Arizona is so fucked financially that it's crazy that anyone was surprised by this.
He was a candidate if Riley left for the NFL for Christ sake
Arizona never once won the conference and the conference wasn't very good for a lot of it's history with Arizona in it. Washington is going to the Big 10. Arizona is going to the Big 12. This was a no brainer. The only pro for Arizona was the nucleus they had coming back and the weather (Fisch looks like a warm weather enthusiast).
Technically they were co-champs one of those years. Maybe '93
You know what I mean. At the very least Washington won the conference three times the past 10 years. This was the only time Arizona even got close and they lost to Washington, at home.