A consensus of major sports media sites projects five different opponents for Arizona in two bowl games entering the final week of the regular season on Friday at Arizona State. Bowl projections are from Athlon Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, the College Football News, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.
Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports projects Arizona to play Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl in El Paso on New Year's Eve. The Sun Bowl has a noon Mountain Standard Time kickoff on CBS. Arizona has two wins and a tie in three Sun Bowl appearances.
Arizona is 2-0 all-time against Georgia Tech. The Wildcats beat the Yellow Jackets 19-14 in Atlanta in 1994 and 20-19 in Tucson in 1994. Georgia Tech lost 30-27 to Utah in the 2011 Sun Bowl and returned in 2012 with a 21-7 win over USC in its only other appearance in the game.
Kyle Bonagura of ESPN projects Arizona to play Wake Forest in the 2025 Sun Bowl. Arizona and Wake Forest would be playing for the first time. Wake Forest will be making its 18th postseason appearance and it would be the first time they play in the Sun Bowl.
Media Outlet | Bowl | Location | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Athlon Sports | Sun Bowl | El Paso | Georgia Tech | December 31 |
Kyle Bonagura-ESPN | Sun Bowl | Los Angeles | Wake Forest | December 13 |
Mark Schlabach-ESPN | Sun Bowl | El Paso Texas | Clemson | December 31 |
CBS Sports | Sun Bowl | L.A. Bowl | San Diego State | December 31 |
College Football News | L.A. Bowl | Los Angeles | San Diego State | December 13 |
Sports Illustrated | Sun Bowl | El Paso, Texas | Clemson | December 31 |
USA Today | L.A. Bowl | Los Angeles | New Mexico | December 13 |
Arizona could play a marquee program in a bowl game
Kyle Bonagura of ESPN and Bryan Fischer of Sports Illustrated both project Arizona to play Clemson in the Sun Bowl. Arizona and Clemson have never played. Clemson has never played in the Sun Bowl. Clemson will be playing in a bowl game for the 21st consecutive season.
CBS Sports and the College Football News project Arizona to play San Diego State in the L.A. Bowl. Arizona has never played in the L.A. Bowl and has 11 wins and six losses all-time versus San Diego State. Arizona beat San Diego State 38-20 in the last meeting in 2022.
USA Today projects Arizona to play New Mexico in the L.A. Bowl. The game would reunite Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales against his alma mater and the program he led as head coach from 2020 through 2023. Gonzales was on the Arizona staff when the Wildcats beat New Mexico 61-39 in the 2024 season opener.
Arizona has 45 wins, 20 losses and three ties in its all-time series versus New Mexico. The Wildcats beat the Lobos 20-14 in the 1997 Insight Bowl in Tucson and 45-37 in the 2015 New Mexico Bowl played in Albuquerque. The L.A. Bowl would be the first time Arizona and New Mexico have played at a neutral site.