Arizona Wildcats Can Capitalize Off USC's Loss

USC's loss is Arizona's gain.

The two remaining marquee games for the Pac-10 will involve the Arizona Wildcats.

Assuming Arizona wins its next two games, November 21 versus Oregon is the Pac-10 championship game. Oregon (assuming they beat the teams they should) will be undefeated in Pac-10 games and Arizona, with one loss, will be in second place.

With two more wins Arizona would easily move up into the Top 15 in the BCS rankings, making this a huge Top 10 versus Top 15 game in Tucson.

Everyone knows Arizona's history with upsets and this would arguably be the biggest one in the history of Wildcat football. A win would tie them for first place in the Pac-10 as they hold the tiebreaker against Oregon.

Even if Arizona upsets Oregon, they still have one more hill to climb.

December 5 against USC is where Arizona will decide its fate.

USC is not a team that will let their loss to Oregon hang over their heads. They will come out with a new-found fire in the coming weeks.

Luckily for Arizona, the game is over a month away. The Cats will have time to figure out the adjustments that USC has made and use that information to their advantage.

Mike Stoops has never beaten the Trojans. Pete Carroll has yet to lose to Arizona during his tenure at USC.

If there was ever a year for change, this would be the year for the Wildcats.

This year's team has changed the culture of the program. The loss to Washington would have crushed the spirits of past teams. Past teams that were losing by 15 points would have thrown in the towel.

This team has confidence in its ability to play teams and know they are going to win. Not that they have a chance to win, but that they will win.

Both of these games will be huge for the program. National television exposure, recruiting, all of these things will be positive for Mike Stoops and the 'Cats program.

This Arizona team now holds all the cards to its future. Let's hope they got aces.

(Photo by Liam Foley)