Despite being bowl-eligible with a winning record, the Wildcats did not appear in a bowl game, as they self-imposed a postseason ban due to NCAA violations prior to Smith becoming coach in 1980 (see below).
Memorable highlights of the season included a big road win at Notre Dame and a huge upset of rival Arizona State which denied ASU a chance to potentially play in the Rose Bowl.
Both the NCAA and the Pac-10 investigated and determined that Arizona operated a slush fund which involved Mason allegedly paying players cash, which turned out to be fraud, and the Wildcats were put on probation as a result.
[7] As NCAA sanctions were soon to be handed out, Arizona decided to self-impose a postseason ban for the 1982 season as punishment, which meant that they would become ineligible for the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl appearance.
[9] The loss prevented the Wildcats from upsetting a number-one-ranked team for a second straight season (Arizona defeated USC the previous year).
[14] Similar to the 1981 win over USC, fans greeted the Wildcats with celebrations at the Tucson airport when they returned home hours after the game concluded.
However, USC capitalized on the Wildcats’ mistakes throughout the game, including returning three interceptions for touchdowns, which set an NCAA record, and Arizona never recovered afterwards, despite rallying in the fourth quarter and ultimately coming up short as the Trojans held on for the win.
[26][27][28][29] After the game, fans rushed the field and tore down the Arizona Stadium goal posts by celebrating the Wildcats knocking their rivals out of the Rose Bowl for good (UCLA went on to receive the bid).
[32] With the Wildcats finishing the season on a high note, the victory over ASU in the finale would become the turning point for the program under coach Smith, as he would build the team into contenders for the Pac-10 title through the middle part of the decade and restore Arizona’s tradition of winning.