Three of the six bowl projections for Arizona have the Wildcats playing in the Sun Bowl in El Paso in December. The other three are the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and the Rate Bowl in Phoenix.
Those bowl projections would keep Arizona close to home and allow fans easy access to watching the Wildcats in the postseason. SMU is the most common opponent, with Mark Schlachbach of ESPN and Bryan Fischer of Sports Illustrated projecting the Hurricanes and Mustangs in the Sun Bowl.
Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports is the other prognosticator who projects Arizona to play in the Sun Bowl. Lassan projects Clemson to be the opponent for Arizona in the Sun Bowl on December 31. Arizona has never played Clemson and is 1-1 all-time versus SMU.
Kyle Bonagura of ESPN projects Arizona to play UNLV in the New Mexico Bowl on December 27. Arizona defeated UNLV in 2001, 2013 and 2014 in the only meetings between the programs. Arizona won its only appearances in the New Mexico Bowl in 2012 over Nevada and in 2015 over New Mexico.
Media Outlet | Bowl | Location | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Athlon Sports | Sun Bowl | El Paso | Clemson | December 31 |
Kyle Bonagura-ESPN | New Mexico Bowl | Albuquerque | UNLV | December 27 |
Mark Schlabach-ESPN | Sun Bowl | El Paso | SMU | December 31 |
CBS Sports | Rate Bowl | Phoenix | Iowa | December 26 |
College Football News | Holiday | San Diego | Duke | January, 2, 2026 |
Sports Illustrated | Sun Bowl | El Paso | SMU | December 31 |
College Football News Publisher Pete Fiutak projects Arizona to play Duke in the Holiday Bowl on January 2, 2026. Arizona split with Nebraska, winning in 1998 and losing in 2009 in its only two Holiday Bowl appearances. Arizona has never played Duke.
CBS Sports projects Arizona to play Iowa in the Rate Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix on December 26. Arizona has never played in the Rate Bowl. Arizona leads the all-time series with Iowa 7-6. The Wildcats defeated the Hawkeyes 34-27 in their last game in 2010.
At 4-3 entering their final bye of the 2026 regular season, Arizona needs to win two of its final five games to earn a bowl berth. The ESPN Football Power Index projects Arizona as a slight favorite at Colorado on November 1 and versus Baylor on November 22. The FPI simulations project Arizona with 6.2 wins and 5.8 losses.