University Of Utah

An unscheduled airplane landing briefly delayed Utah center Andrew Bogut's national player-of-the-year tour, but the trip ended as expected Saturday when the Australian All-American became the first foreign recipient of the John R. Wooden Award.

Having a projected NBA lottery pick to go to at the end of a close game is an advantage for Utah, but Texas El Paso did everything it could to keep Andrew Bogut from getting the ball. The Miners were going to force someone else to beat them in an NCAA first-round game at the McKale Center. Unfortunately for UTEP, someone else did -- Marc Jackson's jump shot broke a tie with 39 seconds remaining and propelled Utah to a 60-54 victory.

In the 11 years that Kelvin Sampson has been coach, Oklahoma has built its identity on tough, hard-nosed defense, and holding down Utah's 7-foot Andrew Bogut in Saturday's NCAA tournament second-round game presented the ultimate challenge. The Sooners were physical with Bogut and his teammates and, in a sense, accomplished their mission in limiting the sophomore center to 10 points.

The outsiders from Utah are one step closer to crashing the bowl championship series party after a 51-28 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night in front of 32,683 at Qualcomm Stadium. No team from outside the major-conference power structure has snared a bid to one of the four BCS bowl games -- the Orange, Rose, Sugar and Fiesta.

Urban Meyer is commanding the game video with a remote control from his desk, flanked on his right by a half-empty bowl of cereal. It's Sunday morning after a Saturday trip to Logan has produced a 48-6 dissection of rival Utah State, a victory that will raise Utah's standing to 3-0 overall and No. 14 in the national polls. "Could you hit the light?" he says. Meyer wants to show a visitor a version of his "spread" offense. Only this setup involves his punt team.

Are the Freedom Bowl organizers lucky, or what? They thought they chose two also-rans, albeit quality ones, to play in their game Dec. 27 at Anaheim Stadium. No way, guys. The matchup of Utah vs. Arizona features the best the Pacific 10 and Western Athletic conferences have to offer. Don't believe it? Just ask Utah Coach Ron McBride.

Arizona, picked by Sports Illustrated as the nation's top team before the season began, today accepted an invitation to play Utah in the Freedom Bowl Dec. 27 at Anaheim Stadium. The 15th-ranked Wildcats (8-3) tied USC for second place in the Pacific 10. Fourth-place Washington State, which also was a possible Freedom Bowl participant, is expected to play Baylor in the Alamo Bowl.