Arizona’s stumble in Provo did not knock the Wildcats out of the bowl picture.
Brent Brennan’s team fell 28-17 to BYU on Saturday afternoon, dropping to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 play, but the bigger takeaway for Arizona is that the season is still sitting in front of it. A manageable run of games begins this Saturday at home against Northern Illinois, and the projection world still sees plenty of upside for the Wildcats.
CBS Sports’ latest bowl forecast has Arizona landing in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso against Clemson, with Dabo Swinney’s Tigers on the other sideline. That would be a marquee matchup for a program that has never faced Clemson in football and is still looking for its first Sun Bowl win.
The Sun Bowl carries plenty of history of its own. It is tied with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl as the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind only the Rose Bowl.
Arizona’s history in that game has not been kind. The Wildcats first played in the Sun Bowl in 1968 and lost to Auburn 34-10.
They returned in 1985 and tied Georgia 13-13, then came up short again in 1992, losing 20-15 to Baylor despite being ranked No. 22.
If Arizona can get back there this winter and finish the job, it would mark a strong ending to the 2026 season. The path to building that kind of momentum looks favorable on paper.
The Wildcats have five straight games ahead against unranked opponents, starting with Northern Illinois, which is 0-2 after getting beaten 40-0 by Iowa in Week 1 and then losing to Illinois State last week. Arizona should be favored again in Week 4 at Washington State, then hosts Cincinnati on Oct. 3, travels to West Virginia on Oct. 10 and hosts Iowa State on Oct. 24.
That stretch opens the door for Arizona to stack wins and head into its Halloween trip to Lubbock against Texas Tech with real momentum. It is not hard to imagine the Wildcats putting together five straight victories, a run that could turn that road game into a ranked-on-ranked matchup.
The back half of the schedule is no lighter. Arizona still has TCU at home on Nov. 6, Utah at No. 14, a road trip to Kansas State on Nov. 21 and the annual rivalry game with Arizona State on Nov. 28 at Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Before any of that matters, though, the Wildcats need cleaner play on defense. The new-look secondary has to tighten up, and Noah Fifita needs more reliable targets beyond sophomore wide receiver Gio Richardson, especially with Richardson dealing with an injury that knocked him out early in the second quarter against BYU.
For now, Northern Illinois gives Brennan and Arizona a chance to reset. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM MT on Saturday, Sept. 19.
In Other News...
Arizona Faces One Big Test Even In A Lopsided Matchup
Arizona enters its upcoming game against Northern Illinois with the kind of spread that usually turns a matchup into more of a checklist than a contest. The Wildcats are expected to handle a Huskies team that has had real trouble getting anything going offensively, while Arizona is trying to reset after a stretch in which it has not covered the spread in recent games. The broadcast will be on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
Even with the wide margin on paper, this is still the kind of game that can sharpen the attention of a coaching staff looking for cleaner execution. Arizona cannot afford a sleepy outing against an opponent that will be trying to make the game awkward and keep the score from getting out of hand, and the betting line reflects just how much separation there is supposed to be. The bigger question is whether the Wildcats can turn that advantage into the sort of complete performance that has been elusive lately. [Read more 🡒]