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Hype no more; Remember '94

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Summer Wildcat Dan Rosen

In 1993, Dick Tomey lead the Wildcats out onto the field in the first game of the season against Texas-El-Paso and the UA proceeded to dominate 24-6 in Arizona Stadium. From then on Tomey and the Wildcats won nine more games and lost only two. They beat teams like Southern Cal 38-7 and Arizona State 34-20.

They were awesome, and no one can question that. They went on to not only win, but to shut out Dennis Erickson and his Miami Hurricanes, 29-0 in the Fiesta Bowl.

Truly a phenomenal year, that was unexpected considering the year before they went 6-5-1.

In the preseason of 1994, Sports Illustrated put the "Desert Swarm" defense on the front cover of their first college football issue and proclaimed the Wildcats No.1. The UA then had a better than average, but dismal year according to the critics, garnering just an 8-4 record and losing to Utah in the Freedom Bowl.

They were incredibly over-hyped, and they couldn't live up to the expectations put on them.

Now, fast forward to the present day and realize this: last season the Wildcats were 12-1 and beat a perennial national favorite, Nebraska, in the Holiday Bowl. They weren't expected to be this good, because the year before they were only 7-5 and beat New Mexico in the less than popular Insight.com Bowl. After last season, a year with so many similarities to 1993 it could make you sick, the Wildcats are tremendously hyped with a difficult schedule yet again.

In a way, this could be the best thing to happen to the University of Arizona football program - all the hype raises the eyebrows of the national public and therefore the UA gets money and prestige. But, this could be the worst thing for the team - they are the ones that have to go out and prove their worth.

"The core of our team, which is the older guys, isn't thinking about the hype," senior linebacker and Arizona-native Scooter Sprotte said. "The younger guys might be, but we have been around since we were 5-6 and 6-5. Games go to the wire, and we can't take anything for granted."

Without a doubt this team can succeed and go to the Rose Bowl, a game that has eluded them since they joined the Pacific 10 Conference. Hey, they may even be good enough to go to the Sugar Bowl and play for the national championship in New Orleans.

This is not something this campus wants to talk or even think about, but the fact remains that it can happen.

1998 was similar to 1993 and that was a good thing for the fans; but if 1999 is similar to 1994, the UA will never get on the map as a perennial national contender like Nebraska or Florida State. It would be the biggest setback to the program in history.

So, there is one thing that can be done for this week leading up to the showdown in Happy Valley, stop the hype and concentrate on game one. It's a 12-game season that lasts until at least Nov. 27. The team is going to take it one at a time, and so should the fans.