Arizona Football: Biggest takeaways from Pac-12 Media Day

LOS ANGELES, CA – It was a flurry of events at the Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday afternoon, but here were our biggest takeaways regarding Arizona Football.

Representing the Wildcats in Los Angeles, were Arizona Football stars Khalil Tate and J.J. Taylor as the two partook in all the Media Day events, fielding a myriad of questions.

So what did learn about Arizona’s perception? 

Arizona Wildcats

Well, coming in, we know the Wildcats were not likely to get much love from the media. Unfortunately the let down of 2018 is still leaving pundits and analysts a little leery of Arizona as we head into the 2019 season.

There are numerous questions regarding this team, and we’ve done our best to highlight those areas and what to anticipate for 2019. Arizona could very well surprise everybody this season, but no doubt their success will be contingent on the play of Tate, the offensive line, and the defense as a whole!

As it stands, Arizona has been picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 South, with Utah being picked as the favorite to win the South.

Hopefully, Arizona can prove the doubters wrong!

So what changes can we expect from the conference this season?

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott spoke at length talking about a few different things. First off, he announced that the Conference will be moving the Pac-12 Championship game to Las Vegas, from the previous location of Santa Clara starting in the 2020 and beyond!

Personally, I think the move will be well-received, and could feasibly help the conference see increased attendance numbers moving forward for the championship game. After all, the move to Vegas for the Basketball tournament has been a successful one!

Refs?

Unfortunately no change here. It looks like Scott and the Pac-12 is looking at some options to improve their reputation, but it seems like nothing will really change.

Late Kick-offs:

One thing being discussed and certainly an important topic covered on Wednesday, were the issues of late kick-offs. There’s no doubt attendance and viewership suffers when kick-offs are at 7 pm and later, but unfortunately, there’s not much you control, especially early in the season, when it’s 95-plus degrees in the early parts of the season.

To try and combat the issues with late kick offs, Scott and the Pac-12 are looking at possibly moving games up to 9/ 10 am. I’d imagine Arizona would be one of the teams considered for this, or could be impacted, should times change.

What Wildcat players are getting some early attention?

Making the preseason All-Conference team for the Pac-12 were; linebacker Colin Schooler and running back J.J. Taylor. The two were selected to the first-ever preseason team. Taylor landed spot on both the first team and second team yesterday. Taylor made first team as an all-purpose specialist, and second team as a running back.

He said it…

Last season was certainly a disappointment for the Wildcats, but coach Sumlin and Arizona is looking to change the negative perception, and to hopefully outpace their performance from last year.

Sumlin spoke at length when he took to the podium, talking about his teams’ preparation for 2019. “I couldn’t be happier with the consistency and the effort that these guys have put in in the offseason,” Sumlin said. “The energy in that building before I left and when we get there tomorrow, I’m really, really excited about it, they’re excited about it, and we’re ready to get rolling.”

Catch his full press conference here…

At Zona Zealots, we’re excited for the start of the 2019 season and can’t wait to see how the Wildcats perform! We know Media Day got us excited! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!