The new season of college football is nearly upon us, and while Arizona State is seeking to repeat as Big 12 champions, the rest of the conference will have something to say about that. In anticipation of the new season, we're breaking down each of the 15 other schools and where they stand heading into the year. You can find previously released breakdowns below.
Oklahoma State
Houston
BYU
Colorado
Cincinnati
Today, we look at the Sun Devils' hated in-state rival, the Wildcats.
What happened last year
Coming off the program's first winning season in six seasons, and their first 10-win season in nine years, head coach Jedd Fisch departed Arizona for Washington. The move came late in the coaching carousel, leaving the Wildcats with very few options.
They ended up turning to San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan, who had once been a finalist for the job before Fisch was hired. Less than two weeks after he was announced, Brennan saw the athletics director who hired him get canned by the school. Not long after that, the university president announced he'd be stepping down later that year.
Both moves were the result of the school's athletics department being hilariously in debt.
That all proved to be a harbinger of doom for Brennan. He completed his staff, which oddly featured two coordinators in their mid-60's who had four years combined of play-calling experience. Brennan managed to retain several key players, notably the dynamic duo of quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
It didn't help, though. Fifita regressed sharply and the offense was so bad that Brennan relieved his offensive coordinator of play-calling duties only a few weeks into the season. The defense wasn't much better, and Arizona limped to a 4-8 finish. Six of their losses came by multiple scores, including a 49-7 drubbing at the hands of Arizona State.
What's new this year
Brennan dumped both of his coordinators pretty soon after the season ended. On offense, he brought in Seth Doege from Marshall, while Danny Gonzales was promoted from special teams coordinator to defensive coordinator.
Doege is a disciple of the Air Raid offense. He played quarterback for Mike Leach at Texas Tech back in the day, and largely coached under Graham Harrell at multiple stops before getting a chance to run the offense for the Thundering Herd last year. There, he helped Marshall win 10 games for the first time in nearly a decade.
Gonzales, meanwhile, is a disciple of Rocky Long and his unique 3-3-5 defense. He had exclusively coached under Long at both New Mexico and San Diego State - and also played for Long in Albuquerque - until he accepted the defensive coordinator job under Herm Edwards at Arizona State.
There, Gonzales helped rebuild the Sun Devil defense so well that he earned the head coaching job at his alma mater. It didn't go well, getting fired with a 11-32 record after four seasons, but Gonzales has a strong track record on the defensive side of the ball.
In terms of personnel, Fifita is back but McMillan is off to the NFL. Gone, too, are multiple starting offensive linemen, multiple starting defenders, and their top two running backs. In total, Arizona lost 42 players to the transfer portal and added just 29 players.
That said, one of those transfers comes with immense potential. Running back Israel Mahdi racked up 2,322 rushing yards over the last two years at Texas State, along with nearly 500 receiving yards. He immediately becomes Arizona's best offensive player, and Brennan is hoping he'll take some pressure off Fifita, who was asked to do too much last year.
Reasons for optimism
Honestly, there isn't much reason for optimism in Tucson right now.
That said, the sliver of hope rests in Brennan's track record. He took over a San Jose State program that was in dire straits, evidenced by the fact that he won just three games over his first two years. But things turned around, and Brennan took the Spartans to a bowl game in three of his final four years there.
Additionally, his willingness to make changes at both coordinator spots is huge. Doege is still a bit green as a coordinator, but his offense last year was genuinely good. Gonzales is a proven commodity and a significant upgrade at defensive coordinator.
Brennan was constantly on a list of Group of 5 coaches who deserved a promotion for his work at San Jose State, and that's not by accident. The 10-win season Arizona enjoyed before him clouded just how messy of a job he was inheriting, but Brennan has proven capable of navigating through something like this.
Reasons for skepticism
Where to start?
The fact that neither of the two people who hired Brennan are in the building anymore is a bad sign. Players can usually tell when their coach is a dead man walking, and fans definitely sense it. Enthusiasm for this team is at an all-time low.
While the coordinator changes were necessary, it's also pretty sizable scheme changes on both sides of the ball, and that doesn't usually portend immediate success. Fifita is also a major question mark, as he played good football in 2023 but was one of the Big 12's worst last year.
Recruiting has also slowed down. This year's class ranked 60th in the nation, and the 2026 class is currenly ranked 46th but seems likely to decline based on their average recruit ranking. It's hard to build good will when the future of the roster isn't exciting.
Realistic expectations
The Big 12 may not have held a preseason poll this year, but most people believe the Wildcats will be somewhere near the bottom this year.
They have a non-conference game against Kansas State, a schedule holdover from their Pac 12 days, and also have difficult road games against Iowa State, Colorado, Cincinnati (in mid-November), and in Tempe for the next iteration of the Territorial Cup.
The potential is there for a bounce back year for the Wildcats, as the two new coordinators have succeeded elsewhere and Mahdi is a lethal weapon, if used properly. But there's still so many new things for Arizona that it's hard to imagine them finishing with a winning record.