Arizona is unanimously projected to make a bowl in predictions from several national media outlets after week seven. Arizona fell to four wins and two losses after a 30-24 double overtime loss to BYU on Saturday. SMU in the Sun Bowl is the most common postseason projection for Arizona.
Athlon Sports, Mark Schlachbach of ESPN, and Sports Illustrated all project Arizona to play SMU in the Sun Bowl in El Paso on December 31. Kyle Bonagura of ESPN projects Arizona to play Texas-San Antonio in the Frisco Bowl on December 23.
CBS Sports projects Arizona to play Virginia in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on January 2, 2026 and The College Football News predicts Arizona to play Tulane in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, on December 30.
Virginia, 18th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 19th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, is the only projected Arizona bowl opponent currently ranked. The Cavaliers are currently 5-1. North Carolina State beat Virginia 35-31 in week two to give the Cavaliers their only 2025 loss.
Media Outlet | Bowl | Opponent | Date | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Athlon Sports | Sun Bowl | SMU | December 31 | El Paso |
Kyle Bonagura-ESPN | Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl | Texas-San Antonio | December 23 | Ford Center at The Star |
Mark Schlabach-ESPN | Sun Bowl | SMU | December 31 | El Paso |
CBS Sports | Holiday Bowl | Virginia | January 2, 2026 | San Diego |
College Football News | Independence | Tulane | December 30 | Shreveport, LA |
Sports Illustrated | Sun Bowl | SMU | December 31 | El Paso |
SMU has beaten East Texas A&M, Missouri State, Syracuse and Stanford and lost to Baylor and TCU. Arizona hosts Baylor on November 22. Texas-San Antonio has lost to Texas A&M, Texas State and Temple and best Incarnate Word, Colorado State and Rice.
Tulane is still competing to earn the Group of Five College Football Playoff berth. Tulane has wins over Northwestern, South Alabama, Duke, Tulsa and East Carolina and a loss to Mississippi. Arizona has never played against Tulane or Virginia, is 1-1 versus SMU all-time and is 3-0 versus Texas-San Antonio.
Arizona plays at Houston on Saturday before their second bye week. Colorado hosts Arizona on November 1. Kansas on November 8 is the penultimate home game for Arizona, in addition to hosting Baylor. Arizona is at Cincinnati on November 15 and Arizona State on November 29 to conclude the regular season.