Arizona Wildcats Still Considered Playoff Contenders Under New Staff
The Arizona Wildcats are one of the hardest teams to project in the country.
They have a couple of the best returning players on offense, but have undergone a coaching overhaul since last season.
That was reflected when David Hale of ESPN made his tier list, ranking each team in college football. The Wildcats found themselves in the fourth tier, which was deemed "a playoff berth or 7-5 is equally possible."
While sitting in tier four might not sound too great on the surface, this is the list of teams joining them with that designation:
A few years ago, being in the conversation with those teams would be considered a major step forward for the program.
When Arizona hired San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan following Jedd Fisch's departure for Washington, that created some question marks about how the Wildcats might look in the future. While Brenan didn't turn the Spartans into a national powerhouse, he did have them consistently hovering above bowl eligibility, which was not the case before he took over there.
Upon his hiring at Arizona, he then brought in Dino Babers, fresh off a stint as head coach with the Syracuse Orange, to run his offense. Duane Akina was promoted from analyst to defensive coordinator this past offseason, so he's at least been around the program before.
Despite all the turnaround, the stars stayed put with the Wildcats, which is where most of the excitement around the program lies.
Though the coaching staff isn't bad, it doesn't scream playoff contender on its own.
Quarterback Noah Fifita is one of the top returning passers in the country. He had 2,869 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions through the air last season.
His top target at wide receiver, Tetairoa McMillan, is also back with the team. He's widely considered one of the best players in the country at 6-foot-5 and still being a downfield threat.
Jacob Cowing, a 90-catch receiver, is gone to the NFL. That's a lot of production that they're going to need to replace.
The good news is that the running back room should be as good as it's ever been with two solid transfers in Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Quali Conley.
The defense, which is undergoing a lot of changes on it's own, should be good. The fate of this team, whether it be playoffs or bust, lies on the shoulders of the offense.
DYLAN SANDERS