Can UA repeat as Pac-12 South champs?

Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez has a love-hate relationship with the Pac-12 Conference.

He loves the commitment the universities have made to football and how that’s manifested in better facilities, higher pay for assistant coaches, improved recruiting, etc.

But he hates the end result: The Pac-12 South is a mine field every week (with the exception of Colorado). Arizona, Arizona State, USC and UCLA are all ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll. Throw in the Pac-12 North representatives (Stanford, Oregon) and half the conference is ranked in the top 25.

“I don’t like it that way,” Rodriguez said with a smile. “I wish everyone else was terrible.”

The strength of the conference is Arizona’s biggest obstacle in defending its Pac-12 South title. Think about it. How many teams in the country could win 10 games, return their starting quarterback (Anu Solomon), starting running back (Nick Wilson) and arguably the best defensive player in the country (Scooby Wright III) and yet be picked to finish fourth in their division in the preseason media poll?

It might happen in the SEC. Might.

“I think there’s always been talent out West, but I don’t know if there’s ever been a true commitment to football by everybody like there is now,” Rodriguez said. “Just look at the facilities and the money being spent. It’s changed the dynamic. Not everybody has the SEC mentality quite yet but we’re a whole lot closer than we used to be.”

That commitment isn’t the only reason Arizona was picked to finish in the bottom half of the division. UA players and coaches acknowledge that many outside Tucson chalk up their success in 2014 to a soft nonconference schedule and two wins that came on the final play of the game: Solomon’s 47-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Austin Hill to beat California and Casey Skowron’s 47-yard field goal as time expired to beat Washington.

Take away those two escapes and Arizona is an 8-win football team.

“The outside stuff really doesn’t matter,” Wright said. “What matters is what happens between the lines and what’s up on the scoreboard at the buzzer. People are going to have their doubts, but last year was no fluke. We were just a year ahead of schedule.”

If that’s the case, Arizona’s offense could be scary this season — assuming Rodriguez finds capable replacements at three positions along the offensive line, including both tackle spots. Solomon threw for 3,793 yards and 28 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. Wilson rushed for 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns. Three of the top four receivers return.

“I love this offense,” said wide receiver Cayleb Jones, who caught 73 passes for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns last season. “On every play, someone has the opportunity to catch the ball.”

The question mark for Arizona, as has been the case for several years, is the defense. The Wildcats gave up 28.2 points and 451 yards per game last year despite a monster season from Wright that earned him unanimous All-American status as well as Defensive Player of the Year awards. Even worse, in its final three games (Arizona State, Oregon and Boise State), Arizona allowed 41.3 points per game.

Somehow, the Wildcats have to improve on those numbers despite being outsized up front — nose tackle Parker Zellers weighs 247 pounds — and having to replace four starters in the secondary.

“We’re going to be better,” Wright said. “We have another year in the system, and everybody is more comfortable with what they have to do.”

Seven of Arizona’s 14 games last year were decided by seven points or less. The Wildcats were 6-1 in those games. They might need a similar performance to again reach the Pac-12 championship game.

“There were so many close games, so many games doing down to the last minute,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve told the guys we could have a better football team and it won’t be reflected in our record. But that’s certainly not our expectation. I think our guys know we’re going to be in close games. We’ve got to work hard to pull them out in the end.”

A closer look at UA's football schedule: