3 reasons why Arizona will make a bowl game and 3 reasons it won’t
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Consecutive bowl game appearances have not been a thing for Arizona football since a 4-year stretch from 2012-15. The Wildcats went to the New Mexico Bowl (twice), Independence Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl during that stretch.
In more recent memory, UA has gone to a bowl game in two of the last three seasons. This included an Alamo Bowl victory under former head coach Jedd Fisch, and last season’s Holiday Bowl appearance under Brent Brennan.
With Noah Fifita returning for his final season in Tucson, Arizona has a strong chance to reach consecutive bowl game appearances. Here are three reasons why Arizona will make a bowl game and three reasons that it won’t:
Why Arizona will make a bowl game
Taking care of Casino Del Sol Stadium
One reason Arizona was able to make a bowl game last season was how well they took care of their home turf. The Wildcats went 6-1 at home and that’s already putting any team in good standing. Add in three road wins and that put UA in a premium bowl game.
This season presents a similar opportunity with seven games to be played inside Casino Del Sol Stadium. Two non conference games and five conference games concluding with the 100th edition of the Territorial Cup set up a favorable home slate.
Outside of the rivalry matchup with ASU, the toughest home game could come down to either the TCU game or the Utah game. TCU did start the season off well against North Carolina in Ireland, but that matchup is more so about what Arizona will be coming off of.
It will be a very quick turn around for the Wildcats coming off of a road trip to Lubbock for a Friday night matchup against the Horned Frogs. When it comes to the Utes, that matchup brings a lot of history between two former Pac-12 foes. Arizona has also won the last two matchups so Utah will be looking for revenge.
Fifita has a 12-5 record as the starting quarterback when he’s played inside Casino Del Sol Stadium. Brennan, as the Wildcats’ head coach, has a 9-5 record at home. If both can improve those records, it will set up Arizona to be within range of bowl eligibility.
Defensive front is improved
A big question on defense going into this season is how well the secondary will perform after having to replace five players who made their ways to the NFL. It’s going to be a tall task to replicate the success from last season’s secondary but a lot of responsibility could be taken off of the group if the defensive front is as improved as it thinks it will be.
A big point of the offseason was to continue to develop the talent it already had in the defensive line room, while also bringing in very talented young guys to push the competition within the room.
Returning from injury, Tre Smith leads the room as a sixth year player and is looking to have a rebound season. Alongside him, senior Leroy Palu, sophomore Mays Pese, and redshirt junior Dominic Lolesio.
Coming into the rotation is a pair of seniors in Julian Savaiinaea and Zac Siulepa. Then there’s the pair of transfer portal additions with Victory Johnson and Kevin Moorer Jr..
While there is a lot of experience in the rotation, some of the younger guys have shown that they can go in and make plays. The group of Prince Williams, Kaisi Lafitaga, Keytrin Harris, and Manoah Faupusa will all be guys who play more in the future but can still impact the field this season.
Rushing attack is effective
Fifita will have the Wildcats’ passing attack on point, as he has many talented and skilled options to throw to. If the rushing attack can be effective it could make the offensive playbook as open as it could possibly be.
The good news for Arizona, it returns two backs from last season in Kedrick Reescano and Quincy Craig. The duo combined for 760 yards and 11 touchdowns. When the ground game was operating at its best, it was in a rotation of three running backs. This method keeps legs fresh and also keeps the defense on its toes.
Ismail Mahdi was supposed to be out of eligibility but court rulings were set to give him an extra year. Since then, his status is in limbo with an extra year up in the air. Arizona was already in the mindset of needing a new running back so it went to the transfer portal.
Marshall transfer Antwan Roberts Jr. comes in with 512 rushing yards and four touchdowns from last season. Regardless of what happens with Mahdi, Roberts Jr. will be part of the rotation because of the threat he brings once he’s in open space.
Why Arizona won’t make a bowl game
Injury bug strikes
The ultimate equalizer, if any of Arizona’s key players come out off the field due to injury, it could prevent it from positioning itself to win games. Injuries showed up late last season with the loss of Tristan Bounds and Ty Buchanan. It left the offensive front vulnerable and it showed in the Holiday Bowl.
Injuries are part of the game, but if the Wildcats were to lose a key starter then it could be very detrimental for the season. Injuries plagued Brennan’s first season as it lost numerous defensive starters and could not rebound from it.
If Arizona can finish the season with a relatively clean bill of health, then it can find itself playing in another bowl game.
Secondary struggles
Five players from last season’s secondary now find themselves playing at the professional level, which means there will be a new group that will see the field. This new group will not have the same cohesion level that Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson, and Genesis Smith had.
That cohesion was a big reason Arizona was so successful in pass defense. Most of the guys who will be seeing the field were on a different team last season. Guys like Dwight Bootle and Malcolm Hartzog will need to mesh well with the room in order to find the level of trust last season’s guys had.
Fortunately for Arizona, Jay’Vion Cole does return this season. He was part of the 2025 secondary that shut down a pass heavy conference. Gavin Hunter stood in place of Stukes while he was still coming back from injury and did a serviceable job.
The surprise that came from training camp was Quinn Olson, who coaches say can have a Stukes type of path. If the new group can create cohesion and trust right away, then the Wildcats will be fine, otherwise it may be a long season.
Inconsistency with special teams
While many things went well for Arizona in 2025, one of the more questionable aspects was the special teams unit. Punting was not figured out until around week four, and place kicking was a struggle.
Michael Salgado-Medina finished last season going 19-31 on field goals. While some were impressive, most of his misses came from distances he should not have trouble with.
However, the coaching staff never lost faith in him and continue to back him going into this season. If he can clean up the accuracy issues then Arizona should not have to worry about settling for field goals.
If the accuracy issues leak into this season, then the Wildcats may be in need of a new kicker. Arizona did bring in freshman kicker Ian French who was a 4.5 star recruit out of high school. It’s not ideal to put a true freshman kicker into a game but that might be something that Brennan will have to think about this season.
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