Many football conferences have already announced the schedules for each of their teams. The Pacific-12 Conference (known as the Pac-12) is one of these conferences. In my previous four posts, I have given a preview of UCLA's 2016-2017 football schedule, showing each team's final schedule from last season and key returning and leaving players. I will list each team's returning and leaving players as well as go over each schedule. Finally, I will predict each team's final record of the next regular season based on the team's average performance.
This week, I will preview the 2016-2017 football schedule for the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats will be losing All-American linebacker Scooby Wright III, safety Jamar Allah, and wide receivers David Richards and Cayleb Jones. Quarterback Anu Solomon, running back Nick Wilson, cornerback Cam Denson and wide receivers Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips will return for the Wildcats.
U of A's season opener will be played at Phoenix Stadium (home of the NFL team, the Arizona Cardinals) against BYU. Even though the Cougars will lose many key players and have a different head coach, they will make it a tough season opener. I predict that Arizona will lose this game 35-31. Arizona's next game is against the Grambling State Tigers of the FCS. This should be an easy win for Arizona, who will pull away with a 66-10 win. Another cupcake game awaits for the Wildcats the following week. This time, the opponent will be Hawai'i, a team that really, truly sucks. Arizona will probably win this one 52-17.
Now that we've gone through the Wildcats' non-conference schedule, the next 9 games will be played against Pac-12 foes. So far, I predict Arizona to go 2-1 during their non-conference slate. Washington is next for U of A. Last season, Washington crushed Arizona 49-3. But this year, I will pick Arizona to beat Washington 27-21. After this is a trip to the Rose Bowl against UCLA. In this contest, I predict that UCLA will beat Arizona once again, this time by a score of 35-20. Utah comes after UCLA for the Wildcats in Salt Lake City. Knowing that Utah's big players are leaving, I've got Arizona beating the Utes 31-21. Arizona will play against USC right before their bye week. This game will probably end up being a close one, but I've got Arizona pulling away in overtime 44-41.
Arizona will go into their bye week with a 5-2 record. They have a well-timed bye week, because right afterwards, they will host the Stanford Cardinal, who I think will be #1 in the nation at this point. Stanford will probably breeze past Arizona again, this time by a score of 48-27. Up next is a trip to Pullman, Washington for a battle with the Washington State Cougars. WSU's passing consistency will probably push the Cougars past Arizona 34-21. Hanging just above .500 winning percentage, they will play against the Colorado Buffaloes. Arizona will win that game 45-14. There are only two more games after this. After Colorado, the Wildcats will travel to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon State finished last in the Pac-12 last season, and it won't get any better. Arizona will win 59-20. Finally, Arizona will host Arizona State in the Territorial Cup rivalry. Arizona State is losing many of their star players, so I've got Arizona winning this game 35-17.
In conclusion, I predict that Arizona will finish next regular season with 8 victories and 4 defeats. Arizona went 7-6 last season with a bowl win against New Mexico. Seven wins is where Arizona usually ends up each regular season. All in all, I predict that Arizona will have an average season. Stay tuned for my preview on the Arizona State Sun Devils next week!
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