Most pundits – particularly those who subscribe to analytics – believe that momentum is a myth. Most coaches and players believe it’s real, at least from a psychological standpoint.
Johnson adheres to a day-by-day, inning-by-inning, pitch-by-pitch philosophy. In his view, the fact that Arizona lost its final two regular-season games at home to Cal is irrelevant.
“It’s so day to day … with young players,” Johnson said. “What matters is how they feel about themselves right now. I think it’s a group that’s proud of the accomplishment and ready to go. Somebody’s going to have to be great to beat us.”
With Arizona’s postseason spot secured, Johnson conceded that he was looking ahead to Friday while managing Sunday’s regular-season finale. Last year, Johnson guided Arizona to a season-ending sweep at Hawaii. That gave the Wildcats a six-game winning streak entering the playoffs, although only one came against a Pac-12 opponent.
“I remember last year they were saying we were moving downhill going into the regional. We felt like we were going uphill,” Boyd said. “Now, people are probably thinking we’re going downhill (again). We feed off that. If we listen to the outside noise, it’s probably going to be negative, and we love that.”
