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Good morning — That was a fun World Series, even if the final series score doesn’t look particularly close. Good for the Brewers.

And so, baseball comes to an end, for who knows how long. On the bright side, we’re about to get a high-stakes Big 12 matchup on Halloween this Saturday. If you’re a fan of the Arizona Wildcats, this is a big one.

Let’s break it down.

— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX WKLY Editor

2026 has felt close to a dream season for the Wildcats. At 6-1 and rolling, Arizona is ranked No. 22 heading into their biggest conference matchup of the year. A 9:00 a.m. Arizona time kickoff in Lubbock awaits.

The Cats’ schedule hasn’t exactly been a gauntlet, but Brent Brennan’s team has been taking care of business, most recently thrashing Iowa State 39-3 to become bowl eligible for the second season in a row.

Arizona has only seen a team like Texas Tech once this year, in a tough loss to BYU on the road Week 2. The Wildcats are 5-0 since that loss. A win over Texas Tech would put the Cats in serious contention for a Big 12 title and potential playoff berth, while a loss would make such an appearance nearly impossible. Utah probably needs to lose a game before then, though.

Tech ranks No. 13 this week. They’re a quality opponent known for their intimidating defensive presence. But their defense hasn’t been as good this year as last.

The Red Raiders rank sixth in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 20.4 points per game. They do, however, rank third in sacks with 20 and first in interceptions with 13. They’ll give up points to a degree, but they also make plenty of impact plays. Arizona is allowing the third-most sacks (17) this year, and their offensive line play has been suspect at times.

With that said, the Wildcat defense under Danny Gonzalez has actually performed better than Tech in terms of scoring. Arizona ranks fourth with 16.7 points allowed per game and fifth in yards allowed (314.9) per game.

On the offensive side, the Wildcats are generating the third-most points per game (36.1) to Tech’s 35.9 (sixth in the Big 12). They’re collecting the fifth-most yards (459.4) per game to the Raiders’ 10th-ranked 419.1.

In other words, Arizona has a real chance. But…

My Prediction: Arizona 23, Texas Tech 28

Look, I’d love to back the A on this one. But road games are tough to win. Ordinarily, I’d say that if any team could upset Tech this year it would be Arizona. Except Cincinnati, a team the Wildcats beat 34-7, just handed the Raiders a 37-24 upset loss. That’s not ideal, but could also be a signal of vulnerability.

Arizona has, by far, the better quarterback. Noah Fifita is making his case for a Heisman campaign, with 2,064 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions through seven games. Tech’s Will Hammond has 1,561, six scores and six picks.

The problem is the trenches; Texas Tech’s defensive line is stout. If the Cats can’t get the run game going, or if Fifita’s protection breaks down, it could get ugly. If they do both of those things, they’ll hand the Raiders their second straight upset loss.

Now, let’s see what else is going on in Arizona sports this week: