USA Today names Arizona football one of worst Power 5 teams

The Arizona Wildcats are expected to be one of the worst Power Five football teams in the country, according to USA Today’s Paul Myerberg.

The Wildcats are entering a new era this season under first-year head coach Jedd Fisch and his staff.

Myerberg cited Arizona’s thin roster as a primary reason for inclusion in the list of the 10 worst Power Five teams. Only senior kicker Lucas Havrisik earned a spot on the Pac-12’s preseason all-conference teams. He is part of the preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team.

Arizona did not earn high marks from the media in the conference’s preseason poll, earning only 41 points. That in the worst mark in the conference. The next-best team in the Pac-12 South, Colorado, more than doubled the Wildcats with 88 points.

Myerberg is also high on the rest of Arizona’s division, which he said could give the Wildcats a major test.

For new coach Jedd Fisch, there’s also the challenge of life in the Pac-12 South, which has four teams — Southern California, Utah, UCLA and Arizona State — capable of finding a home in the Top 25.

USC, Utah and Arizona State earned spots in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. UCLA received votes in the first poll of the season. All four teams earned at least one divisional first-place vote in the Pac-12 preseason poll.

Arizona’s cross-divisional schedule this season is also challenging. The Wildcats will play the Pac-12 North’s top three teams from the conference’s preseason poll.

Arizona opens its Pac-12 schedule on the road against defending conference champion Oregon. The Wildcats will host Washington and California in October and November, respectively.

The Wildcats have an unsettled quarterback battle heading into their opening game on Sept. 4 against BYU. Fisch said second-year returner Will Plummer will split time with redshirt freshman and Washington State transfer Gunner Cruz in the team’s opener in Las Vegas.