Arizona Wildcats

Head coach Mike Stoops enters his eighth season for the Arizona Wildcats with high expectations that
shroud the true amount of pressure that's truly upon him. With a consecutive schedule of Oklahoma
State, Stanford, Oregon, USC and Oregon State that begins in Week 2, the Wildcats have one of the
toughest frontends of any schedule in the nation. That could put them in a hole come mid-October, a
point in the season with the potential for fans to be calling for Stoops' head.

That said, there's the chance of upsets and optimism because of the team's pure talent. With a
prototypical NFL quarterback in Nick Foles tossing bombs to All-American candidate in wide receiver
Juron Criner, there's too much talent in the receiving corps for the Wildcats to finish below .500 on the
2011 season. Opposite Criner will be Texas Longhorn transfer Dan Buckner, who has more size and
similar speed to last season's leading receiver, and even with an offensive line that tallied only a single
game of starting experience going into the season, there's much optimism for the Air Zona offense to
shine with or without protection for Foles.

But of course, Stoops built his name upon his defensive knack and knowledge. If the Wildcats can
sustain a high level despite the offseason losses of Adam Hall and Jake Fischer, who both tore their
ACLs, Arizona can keep high-octane offenses like Stanford and Oregon at bay enough to upset the
Pac-12's best. Though the defensive line lost ends Ricky Elmore, Brooks Reed and D'Aundre Reed to
the NFL, the line will be bolstered by tackle Justin Washington and receive assistance from linebacker
Paul Vassallo at the second level. And if the special teams can get their kicking and punting games
together, Arizona has a chance to go far this season.

It's the same story as the last two years; much potential, a lot of hype and the fear of mediocre results
thanks to frustrating outcomes come gametime. Will the Wildcats beat who they're supposed to beat?
Will they do that while also pulling off their usual upset or two? Even when the regular season is said
and done, will they get blasted at a second-tier bowl game, like they have at the Holiday and Alamo
bowls the last two years?

Nobody really knows, but as has been the case in the Stoops era, you never know what will transpire.
You just know that there will be a rollercoaster of storylines. As for the Wildcats themselves, the key to
putting it all together is simply in forgetting the befuddling history of baffling screw-ups of the past.