Arizona Wildcats Won't Make Bowl Game Based on Football Power Index Projections

The Arizona Wildcats are going to suffer terrible result based on these Football Power Index projections.

Oct 26, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (11) lays on ground in disappointment after he fails to catch the ball during the fourth quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Arizona Stadium / Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Coming into the year, the Arizona Wildcats were seen as a sleeper team in the Big 12.

Despite it being their first season in the new conference, the return of Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Noah Fifita and elite wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, among others, was enough for this team to earn preseason top 25 honors in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

But after a solid start where they sat 3-1 following their win over Utah, who was ranked 14th at the time, things have completely gone off the rails.

Arizona is now 3-5 and and 1-4 in conference play, losers of four straight games where they have been dominated at times. And without a good close to the year, they will unthinkably miss a bowl game when there were some high-end expectations they could compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Head coach Brent Brennan still believes in this group, but ESPN's Football Power Index doesn't.

Per their projections, they have the Wildcats missing out on a bowl game by winning only one of their remaining four games.

"Arizona has a 25.3 percent chance to beat Central Florida, 67.7 percent versus Houston, 27.3 percent versus TCU and 43.3 percent to beat ASU. Arizona needs wins in three of its four remaining games to qualify for a bowl game. The FPI projects Arizona to finish with 4.6 wins and 7.4 losses in the simulations," notes Alan Rubenstein of Zona Zealots.

Quite frankly, that is unacceptable.

Their preseason win total number set by major domestic sportsbooks had their over/under at 7.5, so for them to finish the year with just four wins would be a disaster.

Arizona really only has themselves to blame if ESPN's FPI simulations come true.

Yes, they have suffered tons of injuries to key players, but they have also had tons of self-inflicted wounds throughout the entire campaign from untimely penalties and turnovers that have directly resulted in them losing games.

Again, these are just projections, and the Wildcats could certainly outperform them, but based on how they played in the month of October, the chances of that happening appear to be slim.