Previewing 2nd half of Arizona football’s 2026 schedule
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Arizona football is right around the corner and with training camp soon to commence, we are taking an early look at the opponents the Wildcats will be facing this season. Compared to last season, the competition level has increased so trying to get to the Big 12 championship will be as hard as it can be.
Noah Fifita is set to return for one last ride in Tucson and Brent Brennan is hoping to build off of the success of last season. Arizona returns almost all of its coaching staff so continuity in the program is as strong as it has ever been.
On Monday we took a look at the first half of opponents the Wildcats will face this fall. Here is a look at the opponents Arizona will face in the second half of the 2026 season, which starts after a Week 7 bye:
Week 8 vs. Iowa State
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
- Kickoff/TV info: TBD
- Opponent’s 2025 record: 8-4, 5-4 Big 12
- Last meeting: 2024 (Iowa State 39, Arizona 14)
Arizona holds the all-time series lead over the Cyclones with a 4-2-1 record. It’s new all around for Iowa State this season after former head coach Matt Campbell left for the job at Penn State. Starting quarterback Rocco Becht, along with many other players, followed Campbell to Happy Valley.
The Cyclones brought in Jimmy Rogers to lead the program and he will try to piece together a season starting from scratch. Connor Moberly saw little to no action last season but does return for Iowa State. Zane Flores transferred in from Oklahoma State and comes in with eight starts under his belt.
For its rushing attack, Iowa State brought in three transfer running backs. Tulane transfer Arnold Banes III rushed for 217 yards on 51 carries, Oregon State transfer Salahadin Allah ran for 71 yards on 19 carries, and Bowling Green transfer Cameron Pettaway was the MAC Freshman of the year with 365 yards on 72 carries.
At receiver, the Cyclones have a mix of young talent and veteran experience. The room is highlighted by Tarleton State transfer Cody Jackson who had 53 receptions for 799 yards and six touchdowns, and Tulane transfer Omari Hayes who had 39 receptions for 515 yards and a touchdown.
Some names to look for on defense are Washington State transfer Duhron Goodman, Arkansas transfer cornerback Jaheim Singletary, and a trio of Washington State defensive tackle transfers in Isaac Terrell, Max Baloun, and Bryson Lamb.
Week 9 at Texas Tech
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 31
- Kickoff/TV info: TBD
- Opponent’s 2025 record: 12-2, 8-1 Big 12
- Last meeting: 2024 (Texas Tech 28, Arizona 22)
Arizona is set to take on the reigning Big 12 champs and if all goes right for both schools, this should be a matchup with major postseason implications. The Red Raiders have dominated the all-time series with a 27-5-2 record.
Will Hammond will likely be the starting quarterback and saw a good amount of action last season. He had 680 passing yards and threw seven touchdowns while rushing for 299 yards and five touchdowns.
Cameron Dickey returns as the leading rusher for Texas Tech with 1,124 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. J’Koby Williams follows behind him with 868 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Texas Tech’s leading returner in receiving yards is Coy Eakin who had 637 yards and caught six touchdowns. Pittsburgh transfer Kenny Johnson had 109 receptions and 1,354 yards in his two seasons with the Panthers.
Ben Roberts comes back to Lubbock as the leading returner in tackles with 90 and he also had four tackles for loss along with four interceptions. As a whole, the Red Raiders defense forced 17 interceptions and 35 fumbles.
Texas Tech averaged 39.43 points per game and had a 49.55% third down conversion rate. It’s easy to see why it dominated its way to the Big 12 championship and why it is the favorite to be repeat champions.
Week 10 vs. TCU
- Date: Friday, Nov. 6
- Kickoff/TV info: 8:15 p.m. MT, ESPN
- Opponent’s 2025 record: 9-4, 5-4 Big 12
- Last meeting: 2024 (TCU 49, Arizona 28)
The Wildcats will be looking to tie the all-time series against the Horned Frogs in a 2-1 series record. TCU has won the last two games with the most recent being in Brennan’s inaugural season.
Last season’s starting quarterback Josh Hoover transferred to Indiana so TCU went into the portal and got Harvard transfer Jaden Craig. He had school records for single season passing completions (208), touchdown passes (25), and passing yards (2,869).
TCU’s leading rusher returns in Jeremy Payne who had 623 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Jordan Dwyer is the leading returner in receiving yards with 730 yards and seven touchdowns.
Safety Jamel Johnson returns as the leading tackler with 96 and he also had three tackles for loss and five interceptions. The Horned Frogs forced 15 interceptions and fumbles each.
TCU averaged 30.69 points per game and had a 47.4% third down conversion rate.
Week 11 vs. Utah
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 14
- Kickoff/TV info: TBD
- Opponent’s 2025 record: 11-2, 7-2 Big 12
- Last meeting: 2024 (Arizona 23, Utah 10)
While Arizona may have taken the last two games against Utah, it is the Utes who own the all-time record standing at 26-21-2. In the last meeting, the Wildcats went to Salt Lake City and left with an early season upset road win.
Former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham left for the Michigan job and defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley was promoted to be the head man of the program. He was able to retain starting quarterback Devon Dampier to lead the offense.
Dampier had 2,490 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. He was also the second leading rusher with 835 yards and had ten touchdowns. Wayshawn Parker led the Utes in rushing yards with 981 and ran for six touchdowns.
Larry Simmons had 280 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He will be leading the receiver room more than likely but the Utes also brought in San Jose State receiver Kyri Shoels who had 59 catches for 768 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense will be led by Johnathan Hall who led the team in tackles with 67 and had six tackles for loss. Jackson Bennee will be leading the secondary and last season he had 64 tackles with four interceptions.
Utah averaged 41.31 points per game and had a 52.57% third down conversion rate. The defense forced 15 interceptions and eight fumbles. The transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 has not stopped the Utes from producing successful seasons and they will look to keep that trend going.
Week 12 at Kansas State
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 21
- Kickoff/TV info: TBD
- Opponent’s 2025 record: 6-6, 5-4 Big 12
- Last meeting: 2025 (Arizona 23, Kansas State 17)
The battle of the Wildcats has belonged in favor of the ones from Tucson. Arizona leads the all-time series with a 6-2-1 record. This season, UA will travel to Manhattan for the second time in three years.
Kansas State has a new head coach in Collin Klein, who used to play for the Wildcats. Avery Johnson returns as starting quarterback and he had 2,154 passing yards with 16 touchdowns. He also had 460 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Joe Jackson is the leading returner in rushing yards with 842 yards and ran for eight touchdowns. Jaron Tibbs will more than likely be Johnson’s leading target, as he had 552 receiving yards and two touchdowns last season. Garrett Oakley had the most receiving touchdowns with six.
Zashon RIch had 51 tackles last season which makes him the leading returner in tackles and he also had 3.5 tackles for loss. The Wildcats forced 11 interceptions and 14 fumbles last season on defense.
Averaging 28.27 points per game, and a 37.67% third down conversion rate, Kansas State will be looking to improve on those numbers this season.
Week 13 vs. Arizona State
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 28
- Kickoff/TV info: TBD
- Opponent’s 2025 record: 8-5, 6-3 Big 12
- Last meeting: 2025 (Arizona 23, ASU 7)
The game of all games within the state of Arizona, the Territorial Cup will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in Tucson. Arizona leads the all-time rivalry series 52–47-1 and is coming off a win in Tempe last season.
Sam Leavitt, the Sun Devils’ starting quarterback last season, transferred to LSU so they will be looking for a new offensive leader. It will more than likely come down to either Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley, or UCF transfer Mikey Keene.
ASU also lost its leading rushing to Raleek Brown to Texas. Jason Brown Jr. saw some playing time last season and had 151 yards and a touchdown.
Whoever ends up being the Sun Devils’ quarterback will have a big time target to throw to in Colorado transfer Omarion Miller. Last season, Miller had 45 receptions for 808 yards and eight touchdowns.
Safety Adrian Wilson comes back to Tempe as the leader in tackles with 57. He also had an interception, forced fumble, and fumble recovery. ASU forced eight interceptions and fumbles each.
ASU averaged 25.77 points per game, and had a 33.3% third down conversion rate. Those numbers are going to have to improve if the Sun Devils want to be in the conversation for the Big 12 championship.
Last year’s matchup had major postseason implications, and if all goes right for both Arizona schools, then this might be another matchup with postseason destinations on the line.
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