The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Arizona Wildcats meet Saturday in college football action from Rolle Activity Center. Here’s an Arizona vs Hawaii prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Arizona vs Hawaii pick.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
The good news for last year’s Rainbow Warriors squad is that they were able to exceed their (admittedly mild) expectations in the record column. The bad news is that that overachievement still didn’t result in a bowl game berth. No one was giving Hawaii much credit heading into last season’s campaign, as the Mountain West Media Poll had them finishing way down in ninth place ahead of only San Jose State, New Mexico and Nevada. The Rainbow Warriors ended up in seventh place among the conference standings however, beating out New Mexico, Utah State, San Diego State, Wyoming and Nevada thanks to a 3-4 Mountain West Record and a 5-7 overall mark. Unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough for a bowl game. A 1-5 stretch early in the season (featuring three road losses) pretty much buried the hopes early.
Hawaii already has one game under their belt this year, a home matchup versus Stanford last Saturday. In that one the Warriors overcame an early deficit, scoring in every quarter on the way to a hard-fought 23-20 victory. QB Micah Alejado posted 210 yards and a pair of scores on 27-of-39 passing, and Cam Barfield led the rush with six carries for 45 yards. Pofele Ashlock was the team’s top receiver on nine grabs for 69 yards and a TD of his own.
Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview
Over on the Wildcats’ side, they conversely underwhelmed during the 2024 campaign, drastically falling short of expectations. Arizona had been ranked in fifth place among a competitive Big 12 during the preseason media poll, behind only Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Kansas. The Wildcats instead limped their way to a 4-8 finish overall and a 2-7 run in conference games. That effort would leave Arizona just one spot out of the basement in the standings, ahead of a lone Oklahoma State squad. Following a pretty solid 3-1 start that featured a road loss to a good Kansas State team, Arizona lost seven of their remaining eight games to finish off the season, beating only Houston on November 15.
Let’s move on past Arizona’s rough 2024 campaign and take a quick look at 2025 in head coach Brent Brennan’s second year at the helm. He’ll have defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales (second year) back by his side and will also get a new offensive coordinator in Seth Doege. This season Doege figures to have a pretty good group of running backs, headlined by transfer Ismail Mahdi. Arizona was second-to-last in the conference when it came to the rushing attack last year, so that aspect of the offense will be key in 2025.
Why the Arizona Wildcats will win
- Arizona has won each of its last five home games against non-conference opponents.
- Arizona has covered the spread in four of its last five season openers.
- Arizona has won the first half in four of its last five home games against non-conference opponents.
Why the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will win
- Arizona has lost seven of its last eight games.
- Arizona has failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight games.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Arizona’s last eight games against opponents from the Mountain West Conference have gone OVER the total points line.
Arizona vs Hawaii Prediction
I’m going to take a stab on Arizona. Probably not touching this one, though. The good news for the Wildcats is that they don’t have to do much in order to show some improvement over last year’s debacle. The bad news is that there are plenty of question marks on the roster, as well as plenty of tricky games on the schedule. Sure, the RB corps looks solid on paper, but the offensive line needs to step up in front of them—not to mention stay healthy all year. On the defensive side Arizona needs to generate more pressure, so a handful of sacks in this matchup would be a welcome sign.
As for Hawaii, they posted a gritty win over Stanford in their opener, though there are a few things to work on. The Warriors went a tepid 3-of-10 on third downs, posted eight penalties and held the ball for just 23:53 of game time. Hawaii needs to sharpen up a bit if they’re going to stay close in this one.