The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors start their season with three consecutive games against Pac-12 opponents. The first comes Saturday against an Arizona club that will be wary of falling victim to an upset at what is sure to be a loud environment at Aloha Stadium. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. The Warriors won their first three games last season on their way to an 8-5 mark and a berth in the Hawaii Bowl. By contrast, Arizona had a disappointing year amid somewhat lofty expectations under new coach Kevin Sumlin and stumbled to a 5-7 mark, including back-to-back losses to start the season. The Wildcats are 10.5-point favorites and the over-under for total points scored is 71.5 in the latest Hawaii vs. Arizona odds. Before you make any Hawaii vs. Arizona picks, make sure to see the college football predictions from SportsLine expert Zack Cimini.
Cimini is a respected Las Vegas handicapper who's never afraid to buck conventional wisdom. He uses a new-age approach to excel in multiple sports and has been one of the SportsLine's most successful analysts on an annual basis.
Last year, he hit nearly 60 percent of his college football picks against the spread and, over the past two seasons is a perfect 5-0 on picks involving Arizona. Last year, he advised SportsLine members that Arizona was overvalued as a double-digit favorite against BYU in its season-opener. He told SportsLine members that there was strong value on BYU, and the Cougars won the game outright 23-20. Anyone who followed Cimini's advice booked an easy winner.
Now, Cimini has locked in his Hawaii vs. Arizona picks for Saturday night. He's only sharing them at SportsLine.
Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin said he expects improved depth to be a major positive for the Wildcats this season. The second-year coach told the media the he is pleased with the two-deep personnel at every position, which wasn't the case last season. He also said the club has made major strides in conditioning and some players who saw limited time last year because they were out of shape reported to camp much more prepared this season.
The Wildcats' last trip to Hawaii came 21 years ago, and Sumlin would like to see a similar result along with a similar trajectory for the program. Arizona won that matchup 27-6 on its way to the best record in program history at 12-1. Arizona beat Hawaii 47-28 at home in the last meeting between the schools in Tucson.
Even so, the Wildcats are far from a lock to cover the Hawaii vs. Arizona spread against the Rainbow Warriors, who are notoriously tough against major-conference opponents at Aloha Stadium.
Hawaii was quietly one of the biggest overachievers in the country last season. The Rainbow Warriors were coming off a three-win season, had one of the least experienced rosters of any Division I club and a fairly formidable schedule. Oddsmakers set their season win total at 2.5, joining the likes of Kansas and Oregon State for the lowest number in the country.
The Warriors shattered that mark by Week 3 with a 3-0 start that included upsets of Colorado State and Navy along with a win over Rice. The victories came by an average margin of 13.6 points per game. McDonald was a revelation as they returned to the up-tempo passing game preferred by coach Nick Rolovich. The defense gave up 35.1 points per game but that unit returns nine starters this season.
CImini has broken down this matchup from every angle. We can tell you he's leaning over, and he's also identified the critical factor that has him all over one side of the spread. He's only sharing what it is, and his picks, over at SportsLine.
Who wins Arizona vs. Hawaii? And what critical factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Arizona vs. Hawaii spread you should jump on Saturday, all from the seasoned expert who has hit his last five picks on Arizona, and find out.
