Arizona visits Air Force in one of two DIA playoff games this weekend, and like the other, this one's kind of hard to predict.

In the other game, Utah v San Diego State, they hadn't played each other but they had some crossover. In this Arizona v Air Force game, they actually don't share many similar opponents, the two actually did face off. But, that doesn't really help, as Arizona won, but by the score of 30-28, just to prove these teams could be fairly equal.

Air Force comes into the game on a bit of a losing streak. There's that loss to Arizona, but they also lost to BYU, Lindenwood, and Saint Mary's. All very, very tough teams, and perhaps those losses were good lessons. Wins against Arizona State, Colorado, Colorado State, and Navy, to name a few, show they can win tough games, but the loss earlier in this season of their captain Ben Burmester, hurt them for a while.

But over time Air Force brought themselves back to where they wanted to be, and those tough losses late put them in position to win. And against Arizona in March, they almost pulled it out, bringing their unique combination of pace and power to do it.

"The team is ready for Arizona, although a few more matches would have been nice in order to be game-ready," said Air Force Head Coach Denny Merideth. "We're energized to play Arizona again after the last minute loss to them earlier in the spring."

Arizona, meanwhile, is also coming off a loss, a big one against Utah that was tough to take. It had all been chugging along nicely for the Wildcats. They had beaten Santa Clara, Utah Valley, UCLA, Grand Canyon, San Diego State, Arizona State, Air Force, and Notre Dame. Their one loss before Utah was against Cal, and at 39-12 the scoreline wasn't a runaway. Everything was pointing to a good finish in Salt Lake City, and then they lost 53-3 to the Utes.

It was a blow, but now Arizona has had some time to regroup and hit the playoffs again.

"We're excited to get the new season started," said Arizona Head Coach Sean Duffy. "We are happy to be in the dance and now it's about who plays well at the right time. We have had some of the best training we've ever had since Utah, so hopefully that will be a benefit."

Duffy added that having beaten Air Force once means little when it was so close, and Arizona will be on the road.

Arizona has perhaps a little more ability to create something out of nothing, and the emergence of Jack San Pietro as a potent fullback both offensively and defensively has steadied things a lilttle. Air Force probably has to think they need to win the physical battle first. Both teams have solid goalkickers. Both have a little something to prove after a rough result or two.