Close your eyes and imagine the beginning of another college basketball season. Imagine you are watching Arizona's starting five stroll onto the court for the first time. Imagine, then, your head turns toward the Wildcats' bench, toward all those players who are about to have a seat as the action gets underway.

It is there, amongst the towels and water bottles, that exists the major reason many feel Arizona is the only sensible choice for No. 1.

"No question," says Arizona coach Lute Olson, "this is the deepest team we've ever had. We can go 10 deep with little to no drop-off, and maybe more than that."

	Luke Walton and the young 'Cats around him fell short last year, but the freshmen gained plenty of experience in reaching the Sweet 16.

There is a word for that: Frightening.

Break out your favorite pair of Ray-Bans, because the national spotlight again shines on Arizona, this time hotter than a Tucson sun in June, glistening down on a team that has every reason to believe its season will end in the city of Mardi Gras.

Fact: Your weekly poker game doesn't offer more blue chips than Arizona.

The argument for Olson's team being considered the country's best today begins with all those capable bodies. Not since UCLA in 1991-92 -- since the team with Don MacLean and Tracy Murray and Tyus Edney and Ed O'Bannon and Mitchell Butler and Darrick Martin, the team that had 11 of 13 players see some time in the NBA -- has a program been this deep.

"Absolutely, Arizona should be ranked No. 1," said UCLA coach Steve Lavin. "No question about it. Personnel wise, I can't remember a deeper team since that ('91-92) UCLA season, a team with great firepower, where you have lineups where the second five or six might be as strong or stronger than the first team. Arizona is that kind of team this season."

It also doesn't have the uncertainty that defined the beginning of last season, when Olson welcomed five freshmen to what has become a recruiting monster in the desert. "I never entered a season with that many question marks," says Olson. "It was a very stressful time in the spring and summer, knowing we were about to play the toughest schedule in the country with so many young players."

All teams should have such incertitude: Arizona finished 24-10, won the Pac-10 tournament and fell to Oklahoma in the Sweet 16.

The experience earned from playing that many young faces, from throwing such talents as center Channing Frye and guards Salim Stoudamire and Will Bynum to the Division I wolves each night also goes a long way in deciding this current No. 1 debate.

Solid best defines the team's three seniors, preseason All-Americans in point guard Jason Gardner and forward Luke Walton, along with fifth-year senior forward Rick Anderson.

But now, in tough times and close games, when a basket or rebound is needed to shift momentum, Olson will not think twice about giving his veterans a breather and placing the onus on others to make plays.

"I have always said the biggest improvement in a player's career comes from the end of his freshman season to the beginning of his sophomore year," said Olson. "Our sophomores now know what it's about to play at this level, as opposed to last year when they didn't have a clue. But we know what they can do now."

	“	Absolutely, Arizona should be ranked No. 1. No question about it. Personnel wise, I can't remember a deeper team since that ('91-'92) UCLA season. ”
		— Steve Lavin UCLA head coach

There is also this: Handling the pressure of No. 1 is often an arduous task for some programs. You begin practice with a large target on your back. It's a heavy fate to accept. But top rankings at Arizona are as common as wearing shorts and sandals to class. Players don't hope to be No. 1 when they sign with the Wildcats; they expect it.

"Guys wouldn't be here if they didn't like pressure," says Olson.

Weaknesses? There appears to be few if any, although the idea of having sophomores make critical plays against Texas or Kansas or Oregon or UCLA is a gamble until proven otherwise. It's nice to think Frye and Stoudamire and Bynum can all step up -- each did at different times last season -- but the key is doing it over and over again.

Arizona struggled at times guarding small, quick lineups last year. True freshmen Hassan Adams and Andre Iguodala -- arguably the nation's best set of first-year wings -- could help in that area. But they're freshmen, and with the label comes mystery.

Not focused every game, every minute, every defensive trip? It could happen with so much talent, but things appear different now than following the school's 1997 national championship season. That's when Arizona returned all five starters and was an overwhelming No. 1, but fell to Utah in Elite Eight.

"One of the things about that team was everyone was talking all season about 'NBA, NBA, NBA' about where all the guys were headed to," says Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner, a reserve on the '98 team. "This season, all the talk and goals are about 'national championship, national championship, national championship.'

"This is a very focused group, and yet it's also one that realizes we need to continue working every day if we're going to have the kind of season we want. We don't talk as a team about the No. 1 ranking, but it's not something we run from, either."

Talent, of course, helps. The 6-foot-8 Walton returns a stronger and, yes, quicker player at 245 pounds. The only non-guard ever to lead the Pac-10 in assists, he is again joined by Gardner, whose decision not to turn pro following his sophomore season now borders on brilliant. Stoudamire is the program's best shooter since Steve Kerr in the late 1980s and Frye led the team in scoring and rebounding during a 10-game exhibition summer tour in Australia.

"I just don't feel any other team can match our depth and experience," says Walton. "Kansas has a good starting five, but it's not as deep as us. Oklahoma has good starters and some experience, but isn't as deep as us. We're a combination of those things, which I think makes a good case for us being a preseason No. 1."

Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ed.graney@uniontrib.com.