It only feels like the Ducks are the only ones on the field.
Photo by Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

The race for the 2012 Pac-12 Championship Game starts now.

OK, it started last week when Stanford beat USC but for the Arizona Wildcats and eight other schools their first conference game is Saturday. (Washington, on the other hand, is just taking its sweet time.)

Get the TV schedule and wee notes on the first full weekend of Pac-12 play now!

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I didn’t think we’d need to use this one again so soon.
Photo by Thomas Patterson/Salem Statesman Journal

Friends, Wildcats, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to praise Mike Stoops, not to bury him.

Or something like that.

The 7.5 years of the Stoops regime produced a rollercoaster of surprising wins and shocking losses. The former stopped while the latter continued, and so the ride came to a screeching halt.

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If Mike Stoops’ final chapter is being written, we just found the cover photo.
Photo by Thomas Patterson/Salem Statesman Journal

The new season just started. The new season may have just ended.

Yes, the Arizona Wildcats’ seven-game season is on life support after just one game. That’s what the “must” in must-win means. And this wasn’t even a regular must-win. It was the must-win among the remaining Pac-12 games.

How much time does Mike Stoops have left?

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It hurts.
Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Read the new story; same as the old story.

I wish I had something new to tell you. I wish there was a new storyline, a new angle. You know the scores. You know the trends. Every conversation you’re going have this week about the Arizona Wildcats football team is the exact same conversation you had last week.

The big picture isn’t going to change. So it’s time to focus on the little picture.

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Is Mike Stoops' kung fu weakening?
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

“All of a sudden we’re no good? I don’t buy that. We haven’t lost a home game by more than seven points in three years.”

Those were the words of Mike Stoops in August. The Arizona Wildcats are about to put them to the test in a big way.

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