Rich Rodriguez has turned the Arizona Wildcats from a unit which never had a chance to win the Pac-12 to one which is going to be a contender year in and year out. The Cats went to the Pac-12 Championship Game a season ago, and though it will be tough to win the South once again, no one is going to want to see this team on its schedule.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/3: vs. Texas-San Antonio
9/12: at Nevada
9/19: vs. Northern Arizona
9/26: vs. UCLA
10/3: at Stanford
10/10: vs. Oregon State
10/17: at Colorado
10/24: vs. Washington State
10/31: at Washington
11/7: at USC
11/14: vs. Utah
11/21: at Arizona State
Immediately worth noting is that Oregon isn't on Arizona's schedule this year. Then again, last season, everyone penciled a big fat 'L' on the Wildcats' docket in their game in Eugene, and look what happened on that day in October.
The first three games are all walkovers for the Wildcats, and they should be ranked in the Top 20 in the land for the first big test against UCLA. Splitting with UCLA and Stanford would be a big accomplishment, and it could set this team up to be 7-1 going into the stretch of the season where three of the last four are on the road and losable.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
It goes without saying that the seven wins the oddsmakers have plugged Arizona in at feels light. The Wildcats do have -210 vig to exceed that point, and it won't be easy to find a way past that total if they start out 6-2 instead of 7-1.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
The star players of this offense are all back again for the Wildcats. Anu Solomon had some issues for sure, but in the end, he threw for 3,793 yards and 28 TDs, and he made up for a lot of the mistakes the Arizona defense made last season as a freshman.
Joining Solomon again will be Nick Wilson, another rising sophomore. He rumbled for 1,375 yards and 16 TDs in 2014, and if he can raise his rushing average up from 5.8 yards per game, this could be one of the best offenses in America.
The problem though, is along the offensive line. There is no depth or experience here whatsoever, as Arizona needs to totally revamp that unit with four new starters.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Scooby Wright III was really the only highlight on the defense last season for the Wildcats. He was an All-American last year as a sophomore, and if he excels as a junior this season, you can expect him to take the jump to the NFL.
There's work to be done on this side of the ball for a team which has just four returning starters. Rich Rod's crew allowed 281.2 passing yards per game and 451.0 total yards per game, both of which were in the bottom 25 in America. Of course, you should remember that this more or less should be indexed due to the Pac-12's dominating offenses (and the fact that Oregon appeared on the schedule twice).
SEASON PREDICTION
The Wildcats aren't going to win the Pac-12 South again this year, so don't waste your money betting on them at 100 to 1 to win the National Championship or at 11 to 1 to win the Pac-12.
Still, Solomon and Wright are both on the early Heisman Watch list for bettors, as they are both right around the 30 to 1 mark to take home the award, and that, if nothing else, should make this team exciting.
The U of A won't be an easy out, but its youth probably won't be served this season. In 2016 though, look out. The Wildcats could prove to be National Championship contenders at that point.
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