Skip to main content
All games

TCU vs Arizona: prediction and projected score

We project Arizona 27-18, a 9.7-point margin with 44.8 total points; Arizona wins 74% of the time.

Matchup analysis

Our model projects Arizona 27, TCU 18 at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Week 10. That is a solid edge: Arizona wins about 74% of the time by our estimate, with a projected margin of 9.7 points and 44.8 combined points. Tags: leans low scoring.

TCU is 3-4 against the 55th-toughest schedule so far, scoring 23.4 and allowing 13.9 points per game (+9.5 per game). Arizona (No. 22) is 6-1 against the 78th-toughest schedule so far, scoring 36.1 and allowing 16.7 points per game (+19.4 per game).

Expect TCU to find it hard going: Arizona's strong defense (22nd) outranks TCU's below-average offense (85th of 139 in our opponent-adjusted ratings, worth about 24.7 points against an average defense). Arizona's strong offense (26th of 139 in our opponent-adjusted ratings, worth about 32.4 points against an average defense) meets TCU's strong defense (21st) โ€” an even matchup on paper, so game script and turnovers will decide how many points Arizona puts up.

College football is noisy: even a well-rated projection misses the final margin by about 14 points on average. Based on how real results have scattered around our numbers, the final margin should land somewhere between TCU by 13 and Arizona by 32 about 80% of the time.

Arizona gets about 2.1 points for playing at home. Even on a neutral field the ratings would still favour Arizona by about 7.6. The game is on ESPN.

Market lines

Market lines ยท Source: The Odds API, ESPN, Action Network ยท Updated Oct 29, 9:25 AM UTC. Shown for information; not an input to our projections.

No market line has been posted for this game yet.

21+ only where legal. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

TCU vs Arizona: stat comparison

Basic
StatTCUArizona
Points per game23.4#10136.1#22
Points allowed per game13.9#616.7#23
Yards per play6.24#536.96#13
Yards per play allowed4.59#84.81#15
Rushing yards per game129.6#120154.9#93
Net passing yards per game289.6#10311.6#8
Rushing yards allowed per game117.4#21127.4#33
Net passing yards allowed per game156.1#10187.7#43
Turnovers per game1.43#1301.00#80
Takeaways per game0.86#670.43#124
Sacks per game2.43#362.71#19
Sacks allowed per game2.86#1232.43#107
Advanced
StatTCUArizona
EPA per play+0.01#112+0.21#17
EPA per play allowed-0.06#21-0.04#31
Success rate42.0%#7949.7%#12
Success rate allowed34.6%#835.0%#15
Explosive play rate11.1%#11014.9%#24
Explosive plays allowed8.5%#710.3%#30
Havoc rate13.4%#8213.6%#74
Havoc allowed13.5%#7514.1%#93
Points per scoring opportunity3.49#1124.68#29
Points per opportunity allowed3.80#662.69#1
Average starting field positionown 31#45own 29#88
Opponents' starting field positionown 26#20own 28#39
Offensive plays per game (pace)67.1#5767.0#61
Situational
StatTCUArizona
Rushing EPA per play-0.14#138+0.05#86
Passing EPA per play+0.13#56+0.33#9
Rushing EPA allowed-0.04#31-0.00#54
Passing EPA allowed-0.09#25-0.06#32
Rushing success rate39.4%#11047.5%#35
Passing success rate44.1%#5352.3%#9
Run stuff rate18.1%#8517.4%#76
Passing-down success rate25.3%#12343.4%#5
Passing-down success allowed25.2%#1529.6%#67
Third-down conversion rate43.8%#4958.6%#2
Third-down rate allowed32.3%#1636.9%#50
Red-zone touchdown rate57.7%#9573.2%#19
Red-zone TD rate allowed58.8%#7046.8%#20

# = rank among 138 FBS teams. Efficiency numbers exclude garbage time. Per-play numbers of teams with a weak schedule are pulled toward their opponent-adjusted values (fully at one standard deviation below an average schedule). Source: play-by-play (cfbfastR / sportsdataverse), aggregated by us.

More: TCU schedule ยท Arizona schedule ยท all Week 10 projections

Share this prediction

Projections are statistical estimates for entertainment and analysis only. They are not betting advice and nothing here guarantees any result.

Free weekly projections email

One email a week in season: the closest projected games, the biggest mismatches and how the model graded out last week. Email address only โ€” no spam, unsubscribe any time.