With the Territorial Cup back in its possession, a 5-game win streak going and the chance for a 10-win season still possible, Arizona’s bus ride back from Tempe on Friday night had all the makings of a party atmosphere. Turns out it was quite the opposite.
“Honestly, everybody was dead,” UA coach Brent Brennan said Monday. “It was a obviously really physical football game, a really emotional football game, a really emotional end and postgame in the locker room and all that stuff. And so the bus ride back, I would say, like everyone was asleep. Everybody was asleep, or some version of knocked out on that bus.”
Once back in Tucson, Brennan and his wife Courtney attended Saturday’s men’s basketball game at McKale Center, getting a standing ovation during a media timeout.
“It’s been a hell of a weekend, I’ll tell you that.”
Arizona’s regular season is in the books, but the 2025 campaign isn’t over. The Wildcats (9-3) will be playing in a bowl game for the second time in three seasons, but it won’t officially know which one, or against whom, until Sunday.
The most likely destination is the Holiday Bowl, which is set for Jan. 2 in San Diego, against an ACC school. Pitt and SMU are the most likely opponents, though Miami could be an option as well. The Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 against a Big Ten foe is also possible, but Utah would probably be the more likely choice for that game.
Arizona has no say in any of that, it’s done all it can to make the case for being a desirable bowl participant. And there’s plenty for the Wildcats to do this week without an actual game to start preparing for.
“School and recruiting and recovery,” Brennan said. “A big recovery week for us. It’s a long season, and I think the kind of physical brand of football we play, our bodies get beat up. A lot of recovery, a lot of time in the training room, like all those things for our players, so that when we do get ready to go to work on the next opponent, and wherever we’re going for a bowl game, we are ready to attack that phase of our preparation.”
The Early Signing Period for college football begins Wednesday, with Arizona putting the finishing touches on its 2026 recruiting class. The Wildcats have 22 known commitments, including two added over the weekend, and currently are ranked by 247Sports as having the No. 30 class in the country and third-best in the Big 12.
“I think we have a great group of recruiters here,” Brennan said. “I think people in our personnel department … I just think everyone has done an incredible job. Recruiting is an everyday thing, it’s an exhausting thing. It’s also really fun. And I think just the momentum that we have football program is also showing up on the recruiting trail.”
The Big 12 will announce its postseason awards and all-conference team on Thursday. Arizona, which didn’t have anyone on the preseason team, should have a few players make the cut, with quarterback Noah Fifita a candidate for Offensive Player of the Year.
“To me, that award should go to the most important player to his team,” Brennan said. “And I don’t think there’s any question that Noah Fifita is that to us.”
