In recording just the eighth season of nine or more wins in school history, Arizona loaded up on victories at home early on and then became road warriors down the stretch. This fall it will have to show the ability to win away from home early to ensure another successful season.
The UA’s 2026 schedule is out, with seven games at Casino del Sol Stadium and five on the road. Three of those away games come in the first six weeks, including two in September, while the back half of the schedule features four of six in Tucson. And for the first time since 2021 the Wildcats won’t play consecutive road games.
Arizona opens its third season of Big 12 play on Sept. 12 at BYU, its earliest conference road game since 1998. With only one bye week available in 2026, the Wildcats and Cougars had to meet in Week 2 or the UA would have ended up playing 11 consecutive games to end the regular season.
The Big 12 home opener is Oct. 3 against Cincinnati, which will be making its first trip to Tucson. Other home games are against Iowa State (Oct. 17), TCU (Nov. 7), Utah (Nov. 14) and ASU (Nov. 28). Arizona’s other Big 12 road games are at West Virginia (Oct. 10), where it will face former head coach Rich Rodriguez, as well as Texas Tech (Oct. 31) and Kansas State (Nov. 21).
Arizona also plays a nonconference road game, Sept. 26 at old Pac-12 rival Washington State. The other nonconference games are against NAU (Sept. 5) and Northern Illinois (Sept. 26).
The toughest stretch on the slate, at least on paper, comes in Weeks 8-11 when Arizona plays a quartet of teams (Iowa State/Texas Tech/TCU/Utah) who combined to go 40-12. Three of those are at home, though.
While all games are currently listed as being on Saturday, that could change. The Territorial Cup traditionally fluctuates between Friday and Saturday, with last year’s game on a Friday, and the Big 12’s TV partners may want to move one or more conference games up a day to grab a larger audience.
The most likely option for that would be Oct. 24 against Iowa State, since it comes after Arizona’s bye and the Cyclones are also off the week before. The UA has played at least one regular season game on a weeknight eight of the previous 10 seasons.
