For the first time in 2026, Arizona is in the AP Top 25.
Brent Brennan’s Wildcats checked in at No. 25 this week after not playing in Week 6, giving the program its first ranking of the season and its first since Dec. 7, 2025. Arizona came in at No. 21 then, closing the regular season with a 23-7 road win at Arizona State to finish 9-3.
The jump comes after Arizona sat at No. 28 last week with 82 votes. This time, the Wildcats earned 136 votes.
That still left them behind No. 24 Northwestern, which had 254, and just ahead of Oklahoma State, which had 128.
Arizona’s rise was helped by results elsewhere. No.
18 Oklahoma State lost 35-32 at No. 20 Houston, while No.
16 Mississippi State was routed 31-0 at No. 22 LSU.
The weekend’s biggest shakeup, though, came when No. 8 BYU beat No.
2 Notre Dame, 28-24, and vaulted all the way to No. 2 in the country, with a very strong case to be No. 1 over Miami.
That BYU win also gave Arizona another boost in the national conversation. The Wildcats are the only team to really push the Cougars this season aside from Notre Dame.
Arizona led BYU at halftime in Week 2 before being shut out in the second half and losing 28-17 in Provo. That’s the lone blemish on the Wildcats’ record, and it’s part of why this team finally got the recognition it had been building toward.
Arizona is 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play. Its resume also includes a 34-7 home win over Cincinnati and a 52-31 road win over West Virginia. The one rough spot is the road win at Washington State, which was not nearly as clean as the others.
The Big 12 now has five teams in the Week 7 poll: BYU at No. 2, Texas Tech at No.
8, Utah at No. 10, Houston at No. 14 and Arizona at No.
- Oklahoma State is the only other league team receiving votes.
Next up for Arizona is a home game against Iowa State, which is 3-3 and 1-2 in the conference. Kickoff is set for 5:30 PM MST on ESPN2 at Casino Del Sol Stadium.
The Cyclones’ three losses have come at then No. 21 Iowa, at No.
15 Utah, and at BYU, with each defeat coming against ranked competition.
Both teams are coming off a bye, and this one gives Arizona a chance to strengthen its national standing even more - and lock up bowl eligibility - if Brennan, Noah Fifita, and the Wildcats handle business.