Arizona is 77th in the Athlon Sports "Ranking All 136 College Football Teams for 2025" by Steven Lassan. Brent Brennan and his staff have a lot of work to do after finishing 4-8 in his inaugural season in 2024. Noah Fifita returns at quarterback for Arizona to help set the foundation for 2025.
Entering his third season as the starting QB, Fifita will play for his third offensive coordinator. Brennan hired Seth Doege as the new Arizona offensive coordinator from Marshall. Arizona lost 36 players to the transfer portal and signed 28.
Arizona could start as many as five transfers on offense and three on defense. Transfer wide receivers Kris Hutson from Washington State and Luke Wysong from New Mexico will be key players for Arizona in 2025. Hutson and Wysong together will need to replace the production lost with the departure of McMillan.
This is a critical year for Brennan to regain the trust of the Arizona fan base. It was just that Arizona finished 4-8 in 2024. Arizona was outscored by an average of 10.0 points per game. Against Big XII opponents, Arizona was outscored 33.7 to 17.8 points per game in 2024.
"72. ArizonaSteven Lassan, Athlon Sports
The pressure is already building on coach Brent Brennan after a disappointing debut. Quarterback Noah Fifita is back, but if the Wildcats are going to contend for a bowl, finding a replacement or two for receiver Tetairoa McMillan is a must. The defense and offensive line also headline the list of preseason concerns."
Fifita regressed in 2024 under Brennan. Arizona will be more balanced in the passing game without McMillan but loses arguably the best player in program history. Arizona needs more from the running game after finishing 120th in FBS in 2024, averaging 106.58 rushing yards per game.
Arizona finished 109th, allowing 31.8 PPG and 106th, permitting 413.0 yards per game. The Wildcats need significant improvement in 2025 just to win two more games and qualify for a bowl. Arizona starts the season with games they are expected to win versus Hawaii and Weber State before hosting Kansas State in week three.