Defunct Big West programs:
This is a really interesting section. All three of these football teams played at the FBS level at the time of their contests with Arizona, but none of them even sponsor football anymore. This section also contains the team that the Wildcats tallied the most wins against without taking a loss: the Pacific University Tigers.
- Pacific: 9-0
- Cal State Fullerton: 2-0
- Long Beach State: 2-0
Cal State Fullerton came to Tucson twice over three seasons between 1981 and 1983, and both trips ended badly for the Titans. The first game in 1981 ended in a 37-16 win for the Wildcats, and the second game in 1983 ended 27-10 in Arizona's favor.
Long Beach State, on the other hand, spaced out their losses. They first came to the Old Pueblo in 1984 and played valiantly in a 31-24 loss to the 'Cats. The 49ers waited seven years before returning to Tucson in 1991, but Arizona found an offensive foothold in the 45-21 win.
The Battle of the Big Cats
Here's where it gets interesting: Arizona played Pacific nine times over 61 years between 1934 and 1995, and the Wildcats won every single tilt.
The Wildcats won the first meeting in Phoenix in 1934 by a score of 31-7 back when a typical football game saw less than 20 points scored by each team. Five years later in Tucson in 1939, Arizona enjoyed a more typical 12-7 win. In 1946, the Tigers returned to Tucson for a third time and once again watched as the Wildcats dropped an astounding number of points on them in the 47-13 win.
The battle of the big cats re-aired three times between 1975 and 1982, and it was a great stretch for Arizona. The 1975 showdown saw Arizona shut out Pacific 16-0. In 1980, Arizona scored a series-high 60-plus points in the 63-35 fireworks show. Two years later, the Wildcats' offense kept clicking while Pacific's fell off a cliff in the 55-7 smackdown.
In 1989, Arizona won the game 38-14, scoring 30-plus points for the fifth time in seven games in the series. Four seasons later, the Wildcats narrowly eked out a 16-13 win in 1993 in the smallest margin of victory in the series. In a fitting end to the story, Arizona dominated Pacific 41-9 in 1995 in what would be the Tigers' last season before being shuttered for good.
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