Arizona Football earns spot in Foster Farms Bowl against Purdue

Following the conclusion of the 2017 regular season, Arizona Football (7-5,5-3) prepares for its bowl game against Purdue.

We’re going bowling! College football’s selection Sunday came and went, and the Arizona Football team learned their fate, as they are heading to Santa Clara, CA.

Yesterday, the Wildcats found out they will take on Purdue in the Foster Farms Bowl December 27th. This is the programs’ fifth bowl game in six seasons under head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Despite the good news, the naysayers are out in full force. ‘Oh, there’s too many bowl games!’ Or, ‘we lost three out of the last four games’, or even, ‘this isn’t even a good bowl.’

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We get it, you want to be miserable. Another 7-5 season for the Wildcats, despite being predicted to finish last in the Pac-12 South.

My thoughts? Just be happy we’re going to a bowl game!

We’re nearly three weeks out from a game against a school from a power-five conference, that gives us plenty of time to get some key guys healthy, and to prepare.

Additionally, it’s great exposure for a program that recruits in that region (the Bay Area), and it gives the team another opportunity for the young players to compete and develop.

What’s not to like about that?

By and large, this team over-achieved by a lot. Yeah, attribute the success to Khalil Tate’s spectacular month of October, but remember, there are 60, yes, you read that right, 60 freshmen on this team (red shirts included).

Of that group, quite a few of them play substantially too! Would you rather the team miss a bowl game, have another losing season, fire the coach and go into a rebuilding project with a new staff?

Or, would you rather, have a winning season, have a lot of potential, fire your coach after a winning season, and hire a former NFL coach with a losing record, who hasn’t coached in over 10 years? Yeah, I’m looking at you, ASU!

Yeah, neither of those options sound great to me either!

You are certainly welcome to some frustrations, but for a team predicted to finish last in the South, making a bowl game and having a winning season is huge! You have to look at the upside here.

If the team under-performs next season, we can re-evaluate then, but to do so now is silly!

Making the bowl berth gives an outside perception (beyond us fans who are going to be most critical), that the team is on the up. A potential eight-win season looks a hell of a lot better to recruits than a three-win season.

Also, the security of Rodriguez at Arizona helps to solidify a solid recruiting class for 2018.

Listen to Rich Rod as he discusses the teams’ berth into the Foster Farms Bowl!

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At Zona Zealots, we would like to congratulate the team on the selection and wish them the best of luck as they prepare for Purdue! Bear Down, Arizona!