Arizona released a video shortly after the team’s 39-3 demolishing of Iowa State showing an exuberant home locker room. But in the video, head coach Brent Brennan had some words for his team.
“I’ve been around some teams where getting bowl eligible was enough. Is that enough?,” he asked his players.
They answered with an emphatic “No!”
It’s the right answer.
At 6-1 the Wildcats have already accomplished a bit of a feat, earning bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season. That hasn’t happened
since 2014-2015, a fact that says plenty about the program’s last decade or so.
Concerns the team would follow up its surprisingly good 2025 with a down 2026 appear to have been misguided, as at this point I think we can all agree this Arizona team is also quite good.
What we still don’t know is how good, as despite their 6-1 mark have yet to beat a ranked team. Arizona stumbled in its first opportunity to do so in Week 2 when it fell short at BYU, but as I wrote back then the nice thing was that the schedule broke in such a manner that if the Cats took care of business there would likely be more opportunities for signature, season-defining victories.
Arizona has taken care of business, beating the teams it was supposed to beat — a few of them by comfortable margins. Their recent performances have brought about a No. 22 ranking and suddenly there are plenty of eyes on the program.
This past week has featured many in the national media singing the team’s praises. Really, most everywhere you looked for college football analysis you saw people talking about Arizona.
They’ve higlighted QB Noah Fifita, his brother Dash Fifita, Brennan, Danny Gonzales and say this is a team that could very well win the Big 12 and earn a playoff spot. Arizona is currently viewed as a dark horse to win the conference, with some even proclaiming them to be the best team in the entire Big 12.
Well OK then.
As great as the attention is, it will all be lost if Arizona leaves Lubbock Saturday afternoon on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
That the national media is even talking about Arizona shows just how intriguing and exciting this group is. That we as fans can even talk about such things as a conference championship and a playoff spot at the end of October is a pretty great. Arizona has not often been in this position, which is why when you think about it this game against Texas Tech might just be the biggest in recent program history.
Can you think of a game with such high stakes? The 2014 Territorial Cup between a pair of ranked teams ended up deciding the Pac-12 South, so that one’s up there. Has there been anything comparable since?
Win, and Arizona puts itself on the path towards an historic season. There would still be plenty of work to do and tough games to win, but given the location and opponent this one certainly seems like the most difficult left on the schedule. The confidence gained from the victory would likely only be matched by the excitement from a fan base that has been a bit slow to get on board.
In a way, it would be a sign — the one may have been waiting for — that Arizona Football has arrived.
Lose, and as quickly as Arizona entered the national consciousness it would exit. Dreams of a conference title and playoff berth would be all but dead, and while the season would not be over or otherwise deemed a failure it would certainly not likely reach the kind of heights that would truly deem it to be a special year.
It’s good to be good, but it sure would be nice to be great for once.
Arizona has an opportunity to be great.
The Cats may need to be if they are to win the is game. While it’s becoming apparent this is not last year’s Texas Tech, coming off a loss you’d expect the Red Raiders to be focused and ready to get back on track. The game day atmosphere will be something Arizona must contend with, too, as the afternoon kickoff on Halloween figures to bring an energy that you have to play in to truly understand.
Then again, Arizona does have the Fifiti (my term for both Noah and Dash), a hellacious defense, Isaiah Mizell, possibly Giovanni Richardson and plenty of momentum. In short, if ever there was a team that could go into Galaxy Stadium and leave with a win, it would seem to be this one.
While an Arizona victory would be an upset the betting line moved the Cats’ way early in the week and has stayed around the number you’d give Texas Tech simply for being at home. That, along with all the attention, is a sign that there is no shortage of belief in what this team is capable of.
Prior to kickoff against Tech, everything we hope for this Arizona team to achieve is still a possibility. A bowl game is a certainty, but we’re all anxious to see if this team is capable of even more.
