Hello, Wildcat Universe.

Glad to see you made it today.

Just another wacky chapter in the history of the Territorial Cup rivalry. ASU only scored one touchdown in regulation. They averaged 2.8 yards per rush. They completed 45% of their passes. And they won. The game, the trophy, and the bragging rights. That’s how it goes. Sometimes you win on a muffed punt, sometimes you lose on a blocked extra point.

And sometimes you lose on two blocked extra points.

Not that it’s any easier to take. Thursday night was also another stomach-wrenching drop on the roller coaster ride we call life as an Arizona Football fan. Shouldn’t there be health advisory warning on this thing?

I know there are other tortured sports fan bases. The city of Cleveland’s misery was on full display last night. But the Wildcat football team has its own special way of serving the heartbreak. That’s why we have:

Things Nobody Else Does

-Use three punters without one injury.

The Wildcats used a different punter the first three times they faced 4th down. If playing two quarterbacks means you don’t have a good one, what do three punters mean?

We can’t add the missed extra points to this list because that’s something that did happen before. That may be the biggest difference between the college game and the NFL. In the pros extra points truly are automatic. Gimme field goals are gimme’d. But in college anything can happen in the kicking game.

Utah won its last conference game with BYU on a blocked field goal. Boise State lost out on the Rose Bowl due to missing two short kicks. Cal at Arizona this year. ASU all year…until this week.

Sports fans shouldn’t turn on their own, and no one should yell at college students no matter what happens on the field. But I’m all in favor of sarcasm as medication. Laugh it out, let it out, and move on to the next game.

Don’t forget about that next game.

Every human tendency is to give up right now. The players thinking they don’t have a chance in the bowl game. The fans not wanting to bother making the trip. This is going to be a tough rebound. The coaches need to provide leadership and motivation. The fans need to band together and show support worthy of the kind of program they want to have.

Life in the Wildcat Universe goes on.

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But where does it go? The unveiling of the UA’s bowl destination will now have to wait until after Saturday’s games. Here’s the final Pac-10 football TV schedule:

Sat. Dec. 4 (all times Arizona/Mountain)

Road Team	Home Team	Time	TV
Oregon	OSU	1:30 p.m.	ABC
Washington	WSU	5 p.m.	Versus
USC	UCLA	8:30 p.m.	FSN

Oregon (11-0 / 8-0) at OSU (5-6 / 4-4)
The Ducks are one win away from becoming the first Pac-10 team to survive the nine-game conference schedule unscathed. The last hurdle is the team that lost to Washington State.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Oregon. Some may want to get another Pac-10 team in the bowl picture but the conference really needs a national champion. So, Duck, you better finish this. Don’t choke against Oregon State. Don’t fail in the BCS game like you did against Ohio State. Win the whole thing.

Washington (5-6 / 4-4) at WSU (2-9 / 1-7)
The Wildcats blew out the Huskies but U-Dub has been the anti-Arizona down the stretch. If they can get their season-ending winning streak to three they’ll earn a bowl berth.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Washington. If you had your heart set on a trip to San Antonio (or – heaven forbid – you already bought tickets) you need the Cougars to pull off the upset. But for the sake of the league Jake Locker in the postseason is a good thing.

USC (7-5 / 4-4) at UCLA (4-7 / 2-6)
This game means absolutely nothing besides the rivalry. Both teams are unranked and neither can play in a bowl game. L.A. is hurting in the football department this year.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
UCLA? Because the Cats beat the Bruins? No, I won’t be watching this game either.

ASU (6-6 / 4-5) at NCAA
The Devils’ two FBS wins leave them one win short of bowl eligibility but they’re asking the NCAA to make an exception. Pretty please?

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
NCAA. ASU has the head-to-head win and an equal conference record. The only hope the Cats have for any sort of boasting point is going to a bowl while the Sun Devils stay home. Petty? Oh yeah, but you take what you can get.

Oklahoma (10-2) vs. Nebraska (10-2)
Why do we care? Because the loser will be the biggest brand name available for the Alamo Bowl and, potentially, the Holiday.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
The team you don’t want to play. Which would be most unpleasant: a rematch with Nebraska or the Stoops Bowl? There’s no way around being a big underdog in the bowl game. Unless two more Pac-10 teams secure bowl eligibility this weekend the Cats will be playing a 10-win Big 12 team (double-digit winners Oklahoma State and Missouri are also available).

But, hey, it beats 1999-2007, right?

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There are now a few weeks before the next Arizona football game so it’s time to get into that Pac-10 basketball schedule:

Fri. Dec. 3
Kansas St. at WSU

Sat. Dec. 4
Texas Tech at Washington
Cal at Iowa St.
OSU at Colorado

Sun. Dec. 5
Oklahoma at ARIZONA – 2 p.m., FSN
Texas at USC
Richmond at ASU
Portland St. at Oregon
Montana at UCLA

Mon. Dec. 6
Portland at Washington

Has Derrick Williams ever tried kicking?

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My name is Scott. I am an Arizona Football season ticket holder, and I need help. Lend support at Facebook and Twitter.)

This entry was posted on Friday, December 3rd, 2010 at 1:09 PM and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Alex Zendejas, ASU, Basketball, Derrick Williams, Football, Mike Stoops, Territorial Cup, Wildcat Universe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.