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The Wildcats enter Saturday's matchup ranked No. 18 in the BCS standings.

By Arizona Athletics
November 5, 2009

The Arizona Wildcats will enter a game ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in nine years this Saturday when they face the Washington State Cougars at Arizona Stadium.

It's Homecoming at the University of Arizona and the Wildcats are looking to extend their five-game winning streak at home.

The Cougars return to league action after a nationally televised neutral-site tilt against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last week.

The Wildcats start their final leg of the year after a week off, finishing the season with five games in five weeks. Arizona's week off gave some banged-up players an opportunity to heal and prepare for a challenging remainder of the season.

Arizona is looking to make it for consecutive wins over the Cougars, who in turn are working for their first league victory of the year.

In their last game, the Wildcats overcame five turnovers to otherwise defeat UCLA convincingly, by a score of 27-13. Arizona had a two-to-one margin in total offense, 10 more minutes in time of possession, four sacks and only two penalties. UCLA did not score an offensive touchdown.

UA quarterback Nick Foles, under the weather, still managed to complete 22 of 34 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He also had three interceptions, two of those coming off tipped balls.

The UA defense held UCLA to 65 rushing yards and 211 total yards, plus helped force the Bruins into trying three different quarterbacks, none of whom enjoyed much success.

On Oct. 25, the Wildcats joined the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since the 2000 season. This week the Wildcats are No. 21 in the AP poll, No. 19 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 18 in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

Mike Stoops' Wildcats have enjoyed a nice run of success in the months of November and December since his arrival in 2004. Over the last three seasons, Arizona is 8-4 in late-season games. But, perhaps most impressive, the Wildcats are 6-2 against ranked teams in November and December showdowns, which includes last year's Las Vegas Bowl win over BYU.

Arizona's 3-1 mark in the Pac-10 to date gives them 11 victories in the last 17 conference gamesn. That 11-6 record is impressive by itself, but, even in the Wildcats' six losses, they have been just a few plays away from winning. UA has lost four of the six games by three points or less.

This year, the Wildcats enter November with a national ranking of their own and start a crucial stretch of games to end the season. After this week's game against Washington State, the Wildcats will face nationally-ranked California and Oregon – before the Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game against Arizona State.

To top off the difficult closing schedule, the Wildcats face USC in a rare regular season finale matchup. Coach Stoops' teams have been building toward the position they are in this year – playing meaningful football into November and December.

Up Next:

The Wildcats will hit the road for the first time in more than a month as they travel to Berkeley, Calif., to take on the California Golden Bears.