Arizona's campus bookstore advertised Elite Eight shirts prior to the Sweet 16
Arizona's campus bookstore may have inadvertently provided San Diego State with a little extra motivation entering its Sweet 16 matchup with the Wildcats.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the bookstore advertised "2014 NCAA Elite Eight Arizona Wildcats" T-Shirts on its website Tuesday even though Arizona's Sweet 16 game was still two days away. The ad for the shirt read: "The Wildcats had an amazing season and made it all the way into the Elite Eight. It may be the end of basketball season, but don't let it end your devotion. Show the Wildcats that you're proud of how hard our University fought. Cheer on the Wildcats, and Bear Down!"
Ninety minutes after the Union-Tribune published a brief story on the shirts, the Arizona bookstore had removed the shirts from its site. Dillon Nakata, Assistant Director, Retail Business Development for the Arizona bookstore, told Yahoo Sports store officials "have been apologizing all over the place" for the error and passed along a statement explaining how the mistake happened.
"The University of Arizona BookStores experienced an unintentional leak of a hidden web page that was never meant for public release," the statement read. "This page included designs created in preparation for March Madness, a common practice for most retailers. The mistake does not reflect any assumptions about tournament outcomes and the UA BookStores sincerely regrets the error."
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Top-seeded Arizona enters Thursday's game in Anaheim as the favorite since the Wildcats have been the West Coast's premier team all season and have already beaten San Diego State once already back in mid-November.
If Arizona wins, expect those T-Shirts to make a return appearance on the bookstore website. And if Arizona loses, expect those T-Shirts to be donated to needy children in Africa.
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is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg
