So the No. 22 Arizona Wildcats roll into Autzen Stadium this weekend to play the No. 3 Oregon Ducks. Chip Kelly's team is very good. They play fast like Arizona and are fast-er than Arizona.
But as far as this season has gone, the Ducks haven't had a whole lot of push-back in terms of who they've played. The Wildcats, on the other hand, gutted out an overtime win against Toledo, then put the pedal to the floor against Oklahoma State. Those two games provided situational fuel for growth.
Arizona has indeed grown. Adversity does that to a team.
Meanwhile, Oregon has only beaten up on Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech, giving them few opportunities for the first string offense to play under pressure or the first team defense to get their wits in playing with a decent Division I team.
Will that give the Wildcats a marked advantage come Saturday?
In all likelihood, the best case scenario of Oregon's weak schedule would come in the form of a slow start. It's hard to see that happening at home, but a few flub-ups and a couple Arizona scores from said flub-ups, and all of a sudden a three touchdown game becomes one or two.
I'm not saying that Oregon's schedule will give the Wildcats a big advantage. But for a team still needing to legitimize their legitimacy in the Pac-12, any advantage will be necessary if Rich Rodriguez's team hopes to beat a very, very good team on the road.
To play devils advocate, UA has yet to leave the friendly confines of Arizona Stadium -- so there's that.
Dan Rubenstein doesn't think Oregon should really find itself ranked No. 3 considering they have such a yogurt-soft schedule. Their first decent test comes against Rich Rodriguez's team.
What do you think?