Arizona will play the first of two Friday games this season when the Wildcats host Kansas State this week. Arizona head coach Brent Brennan mentioned during his press conference with reporters on Monday that everybody playing in Saturday is sitting in a hotel room watching Kansas State at Arizona.
Kansas State at Arizona is one of five games on Friday night and arguably the marquee contest. Number 22 Indiana hosting Indiana State with a 3:30 PM Mountain Standard Time kickoff on the Big 10 Network is the only game on Friday night involving a ranked team.
Kansas State at Arizona is scheduled for a 6:00 PM MST kickoff on Fox. Colorado at Houston with a 4:30 PM MST kickoff and New Mexico at UCLA with a 7:00 PM MST kickoff on the Big 10 Network are the other games that could impact viewship for Arizona.
As the only game on free TV on Friday night. With the Arizona game in primetime across the Eastern, Central and Mountain Time zones on Fox, it should gain attention nationally. The only other game on Friday night is Colgate at Syracuse with a 4:00 PM MST kickoff on the ACC Network.
""I think it's great anytime you can play on Friday night on national TV...It's an incredible opportunity for your team. It's a fun deal because, as being involved in college football, you know that everybody that is playing on Saturday is sitting in a hotel watching that game."Arizona HC Brent Brennan via 247Sports
Arizona and Kansas State are playing each other for the second consecutive season on Friday night. Per Nielsen live-plus-same day data, via Sportico, the 2024 Arizona at Kansas State game averaged 2.58 million viewers on Fox. That was up 15 percent over their season average of WWE Showcase, Friday Night Smackdown.
The 2024 Arizona at Kansas State game was the first Fox Friday Night College Football broadcast, per Sportico. Arizona at Kansas State drew 330,000 more viewers than SmackDown previously averaged in 49 episodes over five seasons on Fox and was up 46 percent over their September 6, 2024 season finale.
Arizona has started the 2025 season with wins over Hawaii and Weber State. Kansas State lost their season opener to Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland. That was the first national television appearance for Kansas State in 2025. Kansas State beat North Dakota in week one and lost to Army on Saturday.