Brad Cesmat
Let’s work in reverse.
The College Football Playoff championship game will be played in Glendale next January.
Arizona and Arizona State both believe that they have programs that could be in position to play for the Pac-12 Title in December. They are correct. Both have the potential to be playing on New Years Eve in the Playoff.
When the Territorial Cup is played on November 21st, both schools will have had to navigate through a schedule full of land mines. Will the winner of that game be the Pac-12 South Champion? It’s not that far-fetched that either team could be part of the four-team playoff. If you’re a fan of the Sun Devils then I have lost my mind, same goes if you’re a follower of the Wildcats. Blind fandom is a terrific thing to watch.
Today, Arizona and Arizona State may be one of the best in-state match ups in the nation. The deadwood has been shown the door within both athletic departments, Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez have brought personality and discipline to a position that was void of either attribute under the previous sitting head coaches.
Think Todd Graham would’ve looked the other way during the misguided Vonteze Burfict era like Dennis Erickson did?
We haven’t seen the out of control sideline antics from Rich Rodriguez, that were on display during the Stoops era.
Arizona beat Arizona State last November, won the Pac-12 South title and played in the Fiesta Bowl. Yet the Wildcats are picked to finish 4th in the Pac-12 South preseason media polls(not that we are the sharpest tools in the shed).
The Wildcats open at home later this week with UTSA. It’s not an airline…it’s University Texas-San Antonio. a opponett that returns only 6 starters. The Wildcats should be 1-0 by late Thursday night.
Arizona State is in a great position to do something special in 2015. This Saturdays game in Houston against Texas A&M is nationally televised. It’s not often that the nation gets to see either one of our in-state schools against a SEC opponent. ASU is ranked 15th this week. A win will push them into or around the top 10 in the nation. A loss Saturday night and they would fall into the 20-25 range and would be swimming up-stream to get back into the national spotlight.
A&M will have former Desert Mtn. High star QB Kyle Allen leading them along with 2014 Arizona high school player of the year Christian Kirk at wide receiver. The angles around this game are terrific.
I think both schools come out of the opening weekend with a win.
