After wrapping up the 2025 season with a 9-4 record, Arizona finds itself ranked 23rd in the final CBS Sports 136 - a comprehensive ranking of all 136 FBS teams. That’s a big leap from where the Wildcats stood a year ago, when they finished 4-8. We're talking about a five-win improvement under a head coach who came into the year facing more questions than answers.
While Arizona didn’t crack the final AP Top 25 or the USA Today Coaches Poll, CBS Sports slotted the Wildcats just atop a crowded tier of teams sitting right outside the traditional rankings. From Arizona at 23 through Navy at 28, the separation was razor-thin. According to CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson, the rankings were the result of averaged ballots submitted by college football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports - a method that tends to paint a broader picture than the more top-heavy AP and Coaches polls.
It’s worth noting that unlike the AP or Coaches polls, CBS doesn’t release point totals or first-place votes, so we’re left to evaluate based on placement alone. But here’s what we do know: Indiana finished No. 1, with Miami right behind them. BYU, which handed Arizona one of its four losses in a double-overtime thriller, landed at No. 10 - the highest-ranked team the Wildcats faced all season.
A Season of What-Ifs and Breakthroughs
Arizona’s 2025 campaign wasn’t just a bounce-back - it was a statement. The Wildcats were this close to playing for a Big XII Championship.
Their losses to BYU and Houston were heartbreakers, both coming in the final moments - one in double OT, the other on a walk-off field goal. Flip those two outcomes, and Arizona likely punches a ticket to the conference title game and possibly even enters the College Football Playoff conversation.
Still, the progress under Brent Brennan can’t be overstated. The Wildcats didn’t just win more games - they competed at a high level across the board.
And they did it in a competitive Big XII that saw Texas Tech finish seventh in the CBS rankings and Utah come in at No. 14.
Arizona wasn’t just in the mix - they were right on the doorstep.
Star Power and Momentum for 2026
A big part of Arizona’s surge was the individual talent that rose to the occasion. Fifteen Wildcats earned All-Big XII honors in 2025, a clear sign of both player development and team-wide execution.
Quarterback Noah Fifita was named First-Team All-Big XII, anchoring an offense that proved it could hang with anyone. On the defensive side, Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes also earned first-team honors, giving Arizona a backbone on both sides of the ball.
And here’s the kicker: several of those key contributors are coming back in 2026. That includes Fifita, cornerback Jay'Vion Cole, linebacker Taye Brown, and wide receiver Tre Spivey - all All-Big XII honorees. That kind of returning talent gives Arizona a real shot to build on this momentum and take another step forward next season.
So while the Wildcats may have fallen just short of the major polls, the CBS Sports 136 gives a more nuanced look at where this program stands - and where it might be headed. Arizona’s 2025 season was more than a turnaround.
It was a foundation. And if the pieces fall into place next fall, don’t be surprised if the Wildcats are making even more noise in the Big XII and beyond.