[tps_title]The “must” wins[/tps_title]
For Arizona fans to be fulfilled by the Wildcats reaching 10 victories, they must hope for a victory over ASU on Nov. 21 in Tempe. That’s paramount.
That leaves one necessary victory out of these three games to reach 10 wins by the end of the regular season:
— UCLA, Sept. 26
— at Stanford, Oct. 3
— at USC, Nov. 7
My pick for the “must” win of this group is against UCLA in the Pac-12 opener. Rodriguez and his staff need this victory not only to get off on the right foot in the conference, playing at Stanford the following week, but to finally beat Jim Mora. The Bruins lost five straight games to Arizona before Mora was hired. Now they have won the last three meetings with Arizona playing badly in each defeat — 66-10 at UCLA in 2012, 31-26 in Tucson in 2013 and 17-7 last year in Pasadena. The 2013 score is closer than how the game went with linebacker Myles Jack running all over the Arizona defense as a running back.
So there is the formula for 10 wins in the regular season: The only two likely losses at Stanford and USC. The Wildcats could finish 9-3 in the regular season and win a bowl game to reach 10 victories, which will appease the fans.
Anything but seven wins. Arizona has passed that level under Rodriguez.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.[/tps_footer]
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