Arizona football listed as small favorite for home opener against San Diego State

Somewhat surprising results from both the Arizona Wildcats and their next opponent in Week 1 have contributed to a fairly small point spread for their Week 2 meeting.

Arizona has opened as a 1-point for Saturday’s visit from San Diego State, according to VegasInsider.com. It's the first time the Wildcats have been favored since Nov. 2, 2019, when as 4.5-point favorites they lost 56-38 at home to Oregon State.

The UA opened the 2021 season, and the Jedd Fisch era, with a 24-16 loss to BYU in Las Vegas, covering a 13.5-point spread. SDSU rallied from down 10-0 at halftime to beat New Mexico State at home but the Aztecs couldn’t cover as 31.5-point favorites.

Arizona and SDSU haven’t met since 2001, when the Wildcats’ ill-fated John Mackovic era began with a 23-10 win in San Diego. The UA has won four straight in the series, with SDSU’s last win coming in 1979.

In addition to trying to end the nation’s longest FBS losing streak at 13, Arizona will try to cover consecutive games for the first time since doing so in losses to ASU to end the 2019 season and USC to open 2020 play.