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1. WillÌýAdia Barnes’ women’s basketball team qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005? The Wildcats’ schedule is such that they should be 11-0 on Christmas Day. That would be quite a move for a program that has gone 41-139 in conference games the last 10 years. On paper, Barnes has the school’s top recruiting class, by far, of the last decade and beyond. It wouldn’t take much for a Pac-12 contender to draw 4,000 fans or more at McKale Center.

2. Will McKale Center’s bottom-line number of 14,644 — a sellout — become a rarity inÌýSean Miller’s 10th ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ season? Will Oregon or Utah break the UA’s 34-year streak of leading the Pac-10/12 in attendance? The UA’s home nonconference schedule might be the weakest in 30 years: Houston Baptist, Cal Poly, UTEP, Georgia Southern, Utah Valley, Baylor, Montana and UC Davis. Or will McKale fans buy into what appears to be a transition season and pay the freight, win or lose?

3. Can ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s women’s golf team win another national championship? All ofÌýLaura Ianello’s starters from the 2018 NCAA title return, plus elite recruitÌý³Û²¹-°ä³ó³Ü²ÔÌý°ä³ó²¹²Ô²µ. The Wildcats are so good that seniorÌýGigi Stoll, who often plays in the No. 4 or No. 5 spot in the lineup, qualified for the ongoing LPGA’s Cambia Portland Classic.

4. Is this the yearÌýMike CandreaÌýgets back to the Women’s College World Series? The Pac-12 has never been more difficult, and that’s an understatement. The six leading pitchers in the league all return, with a combined won-loss record of 138-26, includingÌýRachel GarciaÌýof UCLA,ÌýMiranda ElishÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýMegan KleistÌýof Oregon, ASU’sÌý³Ò¾±²õ±ð±ô±ô±ðÌýÌý´³³Ü²¹°ù±ð³úÌýand Washington’s twosome ofÌýTaran AlveloÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýGabbie Plain. All of those teams reached the World Series a year ago and are expected to return.

5. Who is the top athlete on campus? My early projections: Shot-putterÌýJordan Geist, who is building a path toward the 2020 Olympics; golf’sÌýBianca Pagdanganan, who last week won a bronze medal in the Asian Games by shooting a final-round 67 to help the Philippines win the gold medal; and All-Pac-12 third basemanÌýNick Quintana, who hit .313 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs as a sophomore, and helped his Cape Cod League team to a division title last month.

Rather than play a pushover for an earlyÌýseason nonconference game, Salpointe Catholic football coachÌýDennis BeneÌýadded El Paso’s Del Valle High School. It’s like looking in the mirror.

Del Valle is El Paso’s version of Salpointe. The two powers will meet Friday night in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

Bene is 125-32 over the last 13-plus seasons; Del Valle coachÌýJesse PeralesÌýis 118-47.

If you attend Friday’s game, you might see a few familiar faces. Salpointe’s starting left guard is juniorÌýBruno Fina, son of ex-Lancer, UA and longtime NFL tackleÌýJohn Fina. Bruno wears his father’s old jersey number, 70.

Salpointe’s starting middle linebacker isÌýTrent Strong, whose father,ÌýSteve Strong, was an all-city defensive back at Sabino 35 years ago who went on to hit .396 for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 1986 NCAA championship baseball team, an All-Pac-10 catcher for two consecutive seasons. Like father, like son: Trent wears his dad’s old jersey number (6).

Del Valle’s quarterback,ÌýRaymond Montez, also has a familiar family connection. His older brother,ÌýSteven Montez, is the starting QB at Colorado; he threw four touchdown passes Friday against Colorado State. Raymond Montez entered his senior year at Del Valle with 4,976 career passing yards.

If the Salpointe-Del Valle game isn’t enough, how about Cienega’s game Friday at Peoria Centennial? Centennial is thought by some to be ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s No. 1 team. It has won 124 games the last 10 years. Cienega isn’t far behind; coachÌýPat Nugent’s school has won 98 games in the last 10 seasons.

Dozens of college scouts will be out at fields across ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ for Friday Night Lights this week.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s two most well-known football players of the last 10 years areÌýKa’Deem CareyÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýScooby Wright. They were remarkable college ballplayers; Carey rushed for a school-record 4,239 yards, and Scooby made 163Ìýtackles in 2014, a season in which he was surely the nation’s top college linebacker.

Carey and Wright were consensus All-Americans — both were Pac-12 Players of the Year — and now they have something else in common: They are not on any NFL roster. That’s almost hard to comprehend. Carey won’t turn 26 until October; Wright is just 24.

It’s a testament to the difficulty of playing in the NFL, or any pro sport. Wright played in just 13 NFL games, making seven tackles. Carey rushed for just 443 NFL yards.

What happened? Wright might’ve been a half-step slow and not quite big enough to play linebacker in the NFL. Carey probably wasn’t explosive enough to earn time as a starting NFL running back, and as he built up time on the Chicago Bears bench, he probably was making too much money to remain in a backup slot.

After one season at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, 2016-17, guardÌýKobi SimmonsÌýleft school and entered the NBA draft. He wasn’t selected. But he became a feel-good story last year when he played in 32 games for the Memphis Grizzlies, starting 12 times, as he bounced between the NBA and the G League. But the Grizzlies waivedÌýSimmons last week. Why? Probably because shooting guards are available in excess supply. Simmons averaged 6.1 points per game in his brief NBA exposure, playing for a very bad 22-60 team. To stick, you’ve got to be able to set yourself apart or play a more valued position. Memphis’ roster includes former Pac-12 playersÌýDillon BrooksÌýof Oregon,ÌýIvan RabbÌýof Cal andÌýKyle AndersonÌýof UCLA, all of whom play positions — read: not shooting guard — that are more in demand.

Salpointe Catholic will retire jersey No. 76 at halftime of a Sept. 28 home game against Sahuaro. That jersey was worn byÌýKris O’DowdÌýfrom 2004-06 as he became a Parade All-AmericaÌýcenter. O’Dowd then became a starter at USC, although he wore No. 61 for the Trojans. To make the ceremony more meaningful, O’Dowd will be accompanied by USC long-snapperÌýJake Olson, who is blind. Olson wears No. 61 in honor of O’Dowd, who befriended him a decade ago. Olson will be in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to help raise awareness, and money, for the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

UA linebackers coachÌýTom RoggemanÌý(1977-79, 1982-86) died two weeks ago at his home near South Bend, Indiana. He was 86. He was one of a kind. If you met “Rogge,â€� or ever listened to one of his speeches, you didn’t forget it. More than that, he had an impeccable character. If your son played for Roggeman at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ — or at his other coaching stops such as USC or Purdue — you knew he was in good hands. At one UA practice in the mid-80s, Rogge was agitated by a few missed plays and I was standing nearby when he shouted “YOU KNUCKLEHEAD!â€� That was as salty as he got. But the Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, a former Chicago Bears linebacker, was as tough as they come. He got his message across without profanity or demeaning someone. What is often forgotten is that Roggeman’s two sons —ÌýBuckÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýRockÌý— were two of the best high school players in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ history, at Sahuaro. Buck went on top play for Stanford and Rock, a Parade All-American, played for Notre Dame.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ team of the week: Pima College’s women’s volleyball team knocked off No. 5 Mesa on Friday night. It was a reflection on the recruiting of Aztecs coachÌýDan Bithell, who has assembled an impressive freshman class. FreshmanÌýMadi NashÌýof Sahuaro had 15 kills in the upset of MCC, freshmanÌýJade RomineÌýof CDO had eight kills and 19 digs, freshmanÌýKendall DeeterÌýof Mountain View had nine blocks, and freshmanÌýKaleigh HockettÌýhad 38 assists. Eleven of the 13 players on Bithell’s team are from Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

Former All-City baseball pitcherÌýGilbert De La VaraÌýhas been hired to be the pitching coach forÌýKen Jacome’s first Pima College baseball team. De La Vara, who was a standout at Flowing Wells High School, holds PCC’s career strikeouts record. He then pitched 764 inningsÌýÌýin the minor leaguesÌýÌýfromÌýÌýRookie League to Triple-A. Jacome also hired hitting coach/infield coachÌýJared Holley, a three-year starting shortstop at New Mexico.

Golden State Warriors championship coachÌýSteve KerrÌýrecently bought a $7.35 million home in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights area. It’s a 4,000-square-foot, three-story building that’s not far fromÌýwhere he will be working when the Warriors move to their new arena in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco in 2019. Kerr just completed a four-year, $25 million contract with Golden State, a sum that put him somewhere near the middle of what an average NBA coach earns. But Kerr has won three NBA titles in four years and his new contract, signed in July, is estimated to be closer to $10 million a year. Well earned.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s starting 2001 and 2002 quarterback,ÌýJason Johnson, who threw for 5,749 yards — then No. 4 in school history — is now a journalist, filmmaker and photographer who does a lot of work for ESPN. It is high-quality work. Last month, Johnson accompanied NBA All-starÌýMarc GasolÌýas he volunteered with the Spanish NGO Open Arms foundation, traveling from Barcelona to Malta and eventually to the waters off Libya in an attempt to rescue immigrants trying to cross the Mediterranean. Johnson told reporters: “What I saw was horrific and makes me hug my little guy tighter each day, and question how others have to deal with this reality and how the rest of the world just goes about our daily lives unaffected.â€� Johnson produced a 13-minute documentary for ESPN about Gasol’s humanitarian mission. It was absorbing. Watch it if you can.

Former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ point guardÌýT.J. McConnellÌýof the Philadelphia 76ers was the guest on former ESPN basketball reporterÌýJeff Goodman’s podcast last week. McConnell had high praise for his days at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, and for his coaches. “I’m forever grateful forÌýSean Miller,â€� he said. “The relationship we had, I can’t even put into words. He was truly been a second dad to me. I don’t think I’d be playing in the NBA now if I didn’t play for him. I know the type of menÌýthat Sean andÌýBook RichardsonÌýare. They would do anything to help anyone. I have both of their backs forever.â€�

The fallout from state championship baseball coachÌýMark Chandler’s decision to leave Sabino High School amid AIA and TUSD investigations sadly reflects on the players who won that long-earned championship in May.

They are not cheaters. They did nothing wrong. Sabino’s administration needs to make that clear.

Nor should the AIA “stripâ€� Sabino of its championship. I checked the archives of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s state championships in baseball, boys basketball and football dating to 1912. No team has ever been “strippedâ€� of a state championship. And that’s more than 600 teams.

One of the parents of a Sabercats player told me: “Every high school team should be aware of the parent within; a disgruntled parent that is compiling, building a case, and leveraging their kid’s playing time because it’s coming to a theater near you real soon.�

Chandler paid the price; he is gone. The AIA should do the right thing and make sure his former players won’t be known as cheaters.