At 5-1 and sitting at No. 25 in the country, Arizona has earned the right to demand attention. The Wildcats’ only loss came on the road to now-No. 2 BYU, and their last two outings were among their strongest performances of the year.
Coming out of the bye, the momentum is clearly on Arizona’s side. The kind of season-to-season slide that has hung over the program seems headed for the dustbin in 2026, and the Wildcats now have a chance to keep building on that start at home against an Iowa State team that’s been described as middling. It’s Homecoming, too, which should set the stage for a lively afternoon in Tucson as Arizona tries to lock up bowl eligibility and keep rolling.
Still, much of the conversation around the program this week has centered on something more basic: getting people in the building.
“A huge focus for us this week is how do we sell out The Sol?,” head coach Brent Brennan said Monday. “Let’s pack that thing. I think just the importance of home crowds, after watching a little bit of college football on Saturday, the incredible impact a rabid, fanatical, crazy home crowd can have on the outcome of the game is unbelievable, and I’m excited to see that environment on Saturday late afternoon here in Casino Del Sol Stadium.”
That sort of pitch says plenty about where Arizona is right now. Brennan, his staff and players obviously care about much more than the gate count, but having to actively campaign for a full stadium is not exactly the kind of problem you associate with a heavyweight program.
That said, there’s a real case for showing up.
This team is easy to like, starting with quarterback Noah Fifita. Arizona’s roster still has plenty of players who either began their careers in Tucson or have been around long enough to feel like part of the furniture.
The transfer portal has helped, but it hasn’t defined the roster. That gives this group a different feel in a sport where so many teams can seem stitched together overnight.
The coaching staff adds to that appeal. Brennan bounced back from a rough first season by making smart changes around him, and the Wildcats appear to have the kind of coordinators fans can buy into in Seth Doege and Danny Gonzales.
The offense can score. The defense can clamp down.
That’s a pretty good combination.
Arizona may still need time to prove all of this to voters and skeptics, but the opportunity is there. The Wildcats are in a conference race that could lead all the way to AT&T Stadium on Dec. 4, and if they’re going to make a push for the Big 12 title game and a College Football Playoff spot, they’ll have to navigate what could be the toughest league schedule among the so-called contenders. A better feel for that ceiling is coming quickly, with next weekend’s trip to Lubbock to face Texas Tech, one of the teams favored alongside BYU, Houston and Utah.
Before that, though, comes Iowa State.
For Arizona, every game still serves as a test. The team hasn’t fully earned trust yet, either from the public or from its own fan base, and that hesitation traces back to years of wanting to believe before getting burned.
Even last season, while the Wildcats kept winning, the crowds didn’t always follow. A year of steady success was supposed to build confidence, but the scars seem to run deeper than that.
Plenty of fans are willing to lean in; fewer are ready to go all the way.
Beating an average opponent and reaching bowl eligibility before Halloween would help. It would also be a pretty good time to stop hovering at the edge and start believing.
“This is that instant where, like, city of Tucson, students, alumni-we need you,” Brennan said later in the week. “Like, we need you to pack the Sol and that is something that we’ve been talking about a lot.
“We’ve got a big-time Big 12 matchup. We’re going to have a great environment for college football.
The game is at a good time-it’s not too late, it’s not too early. The temperature should be perfect, all those things.
It’s just going to be an incredible day to be a part of an awesome event in Casino del Sol Stadium.”
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Fifitas place in the story matters because he represents something the Wildcats still want to be: committed, steady and connected to the program in a way that feels older than the transfer portal and NIL era. Arizona has already seen him break the schools career passing yards mark, and now his final season has taken on a larger meaning as the Wildcats try to turn a milestone celebration into something more tangible on the field. [Read more 🡒]