For the first time since 2017, the Arizona Wildcats are playing in a bowl game. And for that first bowl matchup in six years they get one of college football’s most storied programs, the Oklahoma Sooners, in the Alamo Bowl.
This game features the best ranked matchup outside of the New Year’s Six bowls, with the Wildcats (9-3) 14th in the College Football Playoff rankings and Oklahoma (10-2) at No. 12
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Arizona is a 3-point favorite to win its first bowl game since the 2015 New Mexico Bowl.
This is a tough one to call because Oklahoma will be going into this one with a different quarterback. While that means inexperience running the Oklahoma offense, it also means Arizona will have less familiarity with him as far as scouting. Jackson Arnold has completed 75 percent of his passes as a freshman, but he’s only thrown 24.
The positive is that the Arizona defense has been able to settle into games even when they have started slowly this season. The coaches and players have shown that they can adapt. There is no reason to expect them not to show the same ability in this bowl game.
The Sooners ran over Iowa State, TCU, and West Virginia, but against the better teams in the Big 12, they scored between 27 and 34 points in every game. Throwing the dart at the dartboard, I’ll go right in the middle of those two for this one. In that scenario, winning means Arizona must get near its season average of 34 points. Will it be able to do that after the long layoff? With this bowl game likely meaning more to the Wildcats than the Sooners, I’ll say yes.
