[tps_title]1. Five of first seven games on road[/tps_title]
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In most years, this kind of start would not be too daunting. But the Pac-12 is one of the best, if not the best, conferences in the nation. Only Washington State may be beatable more often than not at home or on the road. Arizona opens with consecutive road games against ASU (Sunday), UCLA (Thursday) and USC (next Saturday). Those three teams are ranked in the top 53 nationally by Ken Pomeroy (ASU at No. 53, UCLA at No. 45 and the surprise team of the conference, USC at No. 28). After hosting the Washington schools, Arizona heads back on the road to face No. 87 Stanford and No. 40 California. After that, Arizona plays seven games at home and only four on the road, which will be very significant down the stretch. If the Wildcats come out of the first seven games with a 5-2 record, they are actually in a good position heading into the second half of the conference season.
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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]
