ABOVE: Mike Stoops is gaining some believers at Arizona. (AP Photo)
It was a slip of the tongue, but in another way it wasn’t.
ESPN announcer Mark Jones, who covered the University of Arizona’s home game against then-No. 9 Iowa on Saturday, mistakenly called Wildcats coach Mike Stoops “Bob,” his brother who is coach at Oklahoma.
That’s how most view Mike Stoops, playing second fiddle to Bob Stoops, who has won one Bowl Championship Series title and annually has the Sooners in the hunt in the BCS race.
But Mike Stoops is slowly gaining.
He’s building a budding program at Arizona, which defeated the highly touted Hawkeyes 34-27 Saturday and is playing its way into contention in the Pac-10 race and the BCS title quest.
The Wildcats, with quarterback Nick Foles and California High School product Nic Grigsby at running back, are picking up believers. They moved from No. 24 to No. 14 in this week’s USA Today coaches’ poll and it looks like things can only get better.
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