Arizona Wildcats fans, it’s time to gear up for the upcoming season

Soul-searching ourselves, we thought we would put together a little post to help Arizona Wildcats fans getting ready for the upcoming season for football and basketball.

Arizona Athletics and thus Arizona Wildcats fans have been trudging through the mud trying to find their way into the open field to get excited about next seasons football and basketball.

Not going to lie, our new Athletic Director Dave Heeke and Arizona President Robert Robbins had their hands full after the departure of Greg Byrne left to Alabama. They did a fabulous job!

More from Wildcats Basketball

• Arizona Basketball likely to schedule Florida Atlantic for 2023
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s FIBA World Cup performance is reminiscent of Kobe Bryant’s
• Rawle Alkins a star in the Drew League this summer
• Arizona Basketball to play in ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ in 2024
• Reflections on the Pac-12, the Arizona Wildcats, and other memories

Arizona Basketball was able to play and win another Pac-12 Championship and Arizona football got a new head coach and coaching staff for a bunch of young returning players who are hungry to prove themselves.

Arizona Athletics moved on to continue to back up Sean Miller. The team earned another Pac-12 Championship for the regular season and in the Pac-12 Tournament. Recruiting was a bit brutal at times, but Miller and his coaching staff pressed on and much to our delight, Brandon Williams re-committed! Devonaire Doutrive committed as well, then Belgium’s Omar Thielemans decided to come to the USA and be a Wildcat. On top of new exciting young talent, Miller was able to convince experienced grad transfers Ryan Luther (Penn) and Justin Coleman (Stamford) to come to Tucson.

The cherry on the top is that our returning players have something to prove as underdogs as well and we get to see what they can do after losing their starting five. We cannot wait to see how the team builds chemistry and comes together, and it looks like they are getting along great.

It’s a fresh start, and we are looking forward to getting to know the new team. We will finally be able to cheer for Chase Jeter and see our new Wildcats in uniform. There is so much opportunity for our Cats to step up and win starting positions and key roles on the team.

As far as football, a new head coach for Football was hired in Kevin Sumlin, and a new era of football is about to begin in the Dirty T.  Sumlin’s season ticket campaign is underway, and Tempe has gotten a good taste of Arizona Football right in their backyard.

Returning running back, JJ Taylor just recently hit a watch list for the Doak Walker Award and Bryce Wolma to the John Mackey Award list. Quarterback Khalil Tate, who lets nothing phase him, had his name added to the following watch lists as well as being named a Heisman Trophy candidate :

1. Davey O’Brien Award for the best college quarterback (2nd year)
2. Maxwell Award (2nd year) for the best college football player of the year

Tate was also named the No. 1 quarterback on the Athlon list of fantasy quarterbacks. Is this new? College football fantasy leagues?

What’s new this season is the redshirt rule. Freshman will be allowed to play in four games and still not lose a year of eligibility.

Arizona was projected to end up being the No. 3 team in the Pac-12 South by coaches, but the players feel like the sky’s the limit, they are going for gold. Colin Schooler and Tate traveled by private jet to Hollywood for Pac-12 Media Day and had some fun; the two have taken in Arizona Basketball games with President Robbins last season. The chemistry that these two leaders are building on the team is hugely encouraging.

If you remember last season, Zona Zealots were one of the only outlets that were positive about the football team. That was because the players were positive and confident they could win games. The young players stepped up and even with drama in the office, they were able to focus and perform way beyond expectations. A lot of these players are returning, players who were acknowledged as freshmen in the NCAA winning awards and more.

If the team was able to perform last season beyond expectations. It should be safe to say that this season, with no quarterback controversy, the team should be able to rise to the occasion with their new coaching crew and we can have some fun cheering on the team. The ZonaZoo upgrades should help the students enjoy the games as well.

Where ever you stand with the University of Arizona Football and Basketball, we hope you weathered the storm and will join us in celebrating our Cats. They are going to be working really hard to put a great product on the court and the field. There is a lot to prove to fans and critics, and it will be fun to watch it all unfold. GO CATS!