2008 Arizona Wildcats College Football Predictions Courtesy of Alex Smart, An Expert College Football Handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are betting college football this year, be sure to buy Alex Smart’s college football predictions each week and guarantee a winning season!!

Arizona Wildcats (5-7, 4-5 in 2007, 6th place in Pac-10)
Mike Stoops has improved the Arizona Wildcats program from an attitude standpoint, but that is about it. His records have not been pretty over the past few years. Last year he was expected to finally turn the corner but failed again. His 5-7 mark from a year ago was an improvement, but it could be bowl bid or bust for the brother of Oklahoma HC Bob Stoops.

Offensive Outlook: Arizona should score in bunches. QB Will Tuitama is arguably the Pac-10’s best QB, throwing for 3700 yards and 28 touchdowns in ‘07. The running backs and wide receivers should be good again, as they didn’t incur any huge losses. The offensive line should improve as well. Last year they allowed 31 sacks. With an improved running game and another year of Tuitama, there is a good chance they can improve on last year’s questionable statistics.

Defensive Outlook: This defense was pretty poor last year. Considering that Stoops’ specialty is supposedly defense, it was very disappointing for Wildcat brethren. Only five starters return on the unit, which is going to cause a lot of depth problems and leave for a lot of growing pains. There isn’t much in the way of high profile prospects on this team either.

2008 Outlook: They will look to get to a bowl game for the first time in 10 years. The schedule sets up rather nicely, with non-conference games with Idaho, Toledo, and New Mexico before heading into Pac-10 play. If USC has one game to watch out for in-conference, it could be their trip into Arizona. The Wildcats could have enough oomph to take out the mighty Trojans, though they’ll certainly be long-shots in the game.

2008 will be successful if: Tuitama can put the team on his shoulders and carry them to a bowl bid. He may have to be the “Vince Young” of the Arizona Wildcats this year in order to save Stoops’ job, and fortunately for him, Tuitama has the talent to single-handedly beat teams.

Look for Arizona to ride their offense and battle their defense all year long.

Prediction: 6-6, 5th place in Pac-10