Early Arizona football record predictions

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Now that we have the Arizona Wildcats’ 2020 schedule, it’s time to make some guesses about how they’ll fare in a short season that will be anything but normal.

Be sure to make your predictions in the comment section below.

Ryan Kelapire — 2-4

• Nov. 7 at Utah — L
• Nov. 14 vs. USC — L
• Nov. 21 at Washington — L
• Nov. 28 at UCLA — W
• Dec. 5 vs. Colorado — W
• Dec. 11 (Fri.) vs. ASU — L
• Dec. 18-19 TBD

The schedule-makers did Arizona no favors, giving them a brutal start to the season and a tough crossover opponent in Washington. I think Arizona wins three games at best (not including the TBD game) and goes winless at worst. I’m not confident in any of the games I picked them to win. But as I wrote earlier this week, there are other ways Arizona can have a successful season besides just winning games.

Adam Green — 3-3

• Nov. 7 at Utah — L
• Nov. 14 vs. USC — L
• Nov. 21 at Washington — L
• Nov. 28 at UCLA — W
• Dec. 5 vs. Colorado — W
• Dec. 11 (Fri.) vs. ASU — W
• Dec. 18-19 TBD (probably L)

The initial reactions to the schedule seemed to be that Arizona got a tough draw, but given that we knew five of the six opponents ahead of time I really don’t see much to be surprised or upset about. Sure, the Cats get a tough start to the season with two road games in the first three and all of those contests against good teams, but there may be some benefit to getting a revamped Utah team early. If Arizona shows any kind of improvement over those first few weeks then the second half of the season could be solid, with two games against teams Arizona is at least as good as, if not better than, and then a rivalry matchup against ASU. I’ll say the defense has found its stride and Grant Gunnell has established himself as elite by Dec. 11 and the Wildcats earn the win and bring the Cup back to Tucson.

Brian J. Pedersen — 2-4

• Nov. 7 at Utah — L
• Nov. 14 vs. USC — L
• Nov. 21 at Washington — L
• Nov. 28 at UCLA — W
• Dec. 5 vs. Colorado — W
• Dec. 11 (Fri.) vs. ASU — L
• Dec. 18-19 TBD

Did you know it’s been 51 years since Arizona began a season 0-3? There’s a very good chance you’ll get to impress your family with that tidbit over Thanksgiving dinner, since it’s hard not to see that happening based on this schedule.

It’s entirely possible the Wildcats will open 0-4, which last happened in 1969, though at least the UCLA game is winnable based on the Bruins’ own personnel issues under Chip Kelly. The UA hasn’t won at the Rose Bowl in 10 years, however, and hasn’t been successful on grass outside of Boulder since 2012.

Colorado is the only likely victory on the schedule, but Arizona will pull out another one somewhere. Maybe ASU at the end, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Christian Mortensen — 2-4

• Nov. 7 at Utah — L
• Nov. 14 vs. USC — L
• Nov. 21 at Washington — L
• Nov. 28 at UCLA — L
• Dec. 5 vs. Colorado — W
• Dec. 11 (Fri.) vs. ASU — W
• Dec. 18-19 TBD

It truly hurts me to write this, but I don’t see Arizona winning anything more than two games in this shortened 2020 Pac-12 football season. The Wildcats open the year with a brutal first three games, and a trip to UCLA never seems to be an easy game for the Cats either. My early prediction is that Arizona goes 0-4 to start, but wins their final two “regular season” games against Colorado and ASU. I just couldn’t bring myself to predict yet another loss to the overly-hyped Sun Devils.

Ronnie Stoffle — 1-5

• Nov. 7 at Utah — L
• Nov. 14 vs. USC — L
• Nov. 21 at Washington — L
• Nov. 28 at UCLA — L
• Dec. 5 vs. Colorado — W
• Dec. 11 (Fri.) vs. ASU — L
• Dec. 18-19 TBD

Arizona’s offense is better than 1-5 but its defense just doesn’t have the depth to do better. The losses of Fields and Schooler is really the tipping point for me from the defensive perspective. Brenden Schooler would have actually be a really great piece on offense too.

I’m obviously going to watch but it’s not going to be easy.

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