SEASON OPENER: No. 21 Arizona opens the 2024 season against unranked New Mexico at Arizona Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MST on ESPN. Brian Custer (PxP), Rod Gilmore (Analyst), and Lauren Sisler (Sideline) are the announcers. Arizona enters the 2024 season ranked No. 21 in the Coaches and AP Top 25 after winning seven straight games to close last season. The Wildcats capped the season with a 38-24 win over No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Arizona hosts New Mexico for the first time since Dec. 19, 2015. The No. 21 Wildcats open their 121st season of football in Southern Arizona with an old fashion rivalry game against New Mexico out of the Mountain West.

WILD WEST RIVALRY: The Cats defeated the Lobos in that 2015 meeting, 45-37, to complete a 7-6 season with a New Mexico Bowl victory. Arizona holds 44-20-3 record against New Mexico all time. The Wildcats possess the longest winning streak in the series of 10 games from 1947-1956. New Mexico defeated Arizona four straight from 1962-1965 for its longest winning streak in match up history. Arizona is 23-10-1 overall at home and 21-10-2 all-time on the road against New Mexico. Arizona has won five of the last seven meetings with New Mexico but dropped their most recent home matchup 29-27 on Sept. 15, 2007. These two programs have a rivalry dating back 1908 when Arizona took down New Mexico 10-5 on Nov. 26 in Albuquerque. From 1938 to 1990 when the winner of the game took ownership of the Kit Carson Rifle. The gun is a Springfield Model 1866 rifle that is rumored to have once belonged to the famous frontier scout, Kit Carson. Game scores from each game are carved into the stock of the rifle. Prior to the 1997 Insight.com Bowl, the two schools announced that they would retire the rifle, and it has not been used during any subsequent meetings.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO: The Wildcats win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl was their first win since the 2015 New Mexico Bowl win over the Lobos (W, 45-37). Arizona clinched a seven-game winning streak to close the 2023 season, matching the longest single-season winning streak in program history (2x; last, 1998). Arizona earned five wins over ranked teams in 2023, the most ranked wins in a single season in program history. Arizona’s 14-point win over Oklahoma in the 2023 Alamo Bowl was its largest margin of victory in a bowl game since defeating Boston College by 23 points in the 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl. The margin of victory marked the third largest in a bowl game in school history. Returning wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (160 yards) and alumnus Jacob Cowing (152 yards) each tallied games over 100 yards receiving, making the Alamo Bowl the first bowl game in Arizona history with a pair of 100-yard receivers. Quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 354 yards marking the second most in a bowl game in program history (1st; Matt Scott, 382 yards, 2012 New Mexico Bowl). Cowing earned Offensive MVP and safety Gunner Maldonado earned Defensive MVP..

NEW ERA: Arizona’s new Head Coach Brent Brennan takes the helm of the Wildcats after seven seasons as the Head Coach of San Jose State. Brennan, 51, is an experienced leader in college football who enjoyed two stints coaching under legendary Arizona head coach Dick Tomey, the winningest coach in program history. The San José native first learned under Tomey with the Wildcats as a graduate assistant in 2000, and again from 2005-09 at SJSU as an assistant coach. The ties between Brennan and the University of Arizona run deep, with Brent’s brother Bradley playing five years as a wide out in Tucson under Tomey, and Brent’s wife Courtney being an alumna of the University.  Among a multitude of accomplishments at San José State, Brennan became the first head coach in SJSU history to lead the Spartans to three bowl games in a four-year span. He also steered SJSU to back-to-back winning seasons in 2022 and 2023, marking the first time it had been accomplished by the Spartans since the 1991-92 campaigns. The 2023 season at San José State saw Brennan’s Spartans charge down the final stretch of the season, winning six consecutive conference games to close out the regular season and earn a bowl berth. During that six-game stretch Brennan’s offense averaged over 38 points per game while the defense held opponents to a meager 17.8 points per game. SJSU’s offensive efforts were fueled by ball security, turning the ball over just 10 times, the best mark in the Mountain West and the ninth best in the nation. The trend was continued from the 2022 campaign in which the Spartans led the country with only six turnovers on offense and a +12 turnover margin that led the MWC.

NEW FACES FROM NEW PLACES: The Wildcats return a veteran core of the roster including Noah Fifita, Tetairoa McMillan, Jonah Savaiinaea, Josh Baker, Montana Lemonious-Craig, Rayshon Luke, Leif Magnuson, Wendell Moe (pronounced Moi) Jr., Justin Flowe, Jacob Manu, Gunner Maldonado, Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson, Tacario Davis, and Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei to the 2024 roster that has mixed in newcomers to make up the team. Of the 109 players on the roster, the Wilcats return 65 and add 44 newcomers. Of the 43 newcomers, 31 are transfers from junior college (7) or FBS/FCS transfers (24) and 12 true freshmen joining the roster in 2024.

NEW COACHING STAFF: The Wildcats will feature 10 new coaches of 11 on the coaching staff. Duane Akina returns as defensive coordinator after serving as a defensive analyst in 2023. Brett Arce moves to STARS Coach after serving as an analyst last season. Alonzo Carter (Assist. Head Coach/RB), Dino Babers (Offensive Coordinator), Josh Oglesby (Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach), Matt Adkins (Pass Game Coordinator/ Tight Ends Coach), Danny Gonzales (Special Teams Coordinator/ Linebackers Coach), Joe Seumalo (Defensive Line Coach), Bobby Wade (Wide Receivers Coach), Chip Viney (Cornerbacks Coach), Brett Arce (Stars Coach), and Lyle Moevao (Quarterbacks Coach) join Coach Brennan’s staff heading into a new season.

WELCOME TO THE BIG 12: The Arizona Wildcats embark on a new journey in a new conference after joining the Big 12 in Aug. 2024. The Wildcats end an era of Pac-10/12 that began in 1978 and finished with a 277-256-7 record while playing in the Pac-10/12, including a 171-202-6 Conference record over 45 years in the conference. The legendary Dick Tomey led the Wildcats through 13 years of the Pac-10/12 Conference and recorded the most wins of any head coach in program history (95).

10 WINS IN 2023: The Wildcats closed out the 2023 season with 10 wins, reaching the double-digit win total for the first time since 2014 and just the fourth time in school history (2023, 2014, 1998, and 1993 seasons). Arizona tied its longest single season winning streak with seven straight victories to close the 2023 campaign.

POLL POSITION: The Wildcats earned the No. 21 spot in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25. It is the first time since 2015 that Arizona was ranked in the preseason polls, marking the highest preseason AP ranking for the Wildcats since 1999, when they were ranked fourth. Arizona is the fifth ranked Big 12 team with Utah (12), Oklahoma State (17), Kansas State (18), and Kansas (22) all ranked in the preseason poll. Arizona currently has two ranked opponents on its 2024 schedule featuring No. 12 Utah and No. 18 Kansas State.

T-MAC: Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is the first Arizona player to be named preseason AP First-Team All-American since the Associated Press began the preseason list in 2016. McMillan pulled in numerous preseason accolades in the lead up to the 2024 season, including Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award Watch List, Biletnikoff Award watch list, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award watch list, Maxwell Award watch list, Phil Steele Magazine First-Team All-American, Athlon Sports First-Team All-American, and All-Big 12 Team. McMillan enters the 2024 season 8th in career-receiving touchdowns (18) in program history, 8th in career-receiving yards in program history (2,104). He pulled in the second-most receiving yards in a single-season in program history in 2023 (1,402). McMillan also posted the second-most receiving yards in a single game in program history in 2023 (266; at ASU, Nov. 25, 2023).

QB1: Noah Fifita led the Wildcats to seven straight wins to close the 2023 season, including a 38-24 victory over No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl to end an outstanding campaign that saw him make his mark on the Arizona program record books. Fifita posted the highest completion percentage (72.37%, 241-of-333) in program history. He passed for the 8th-most yards (2,869) and tied for the 6th-most touchdown passes in program history. Fifita enters the 2024 campaign after securing the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Offensive Freshman of the Year following the 2023 season. He has been selected to numerous preseason watch lists including the Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award, Maxwell Award, AFCA Good Works Team, Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award watch lists. He also earned Athlon Sports Preseason All-American and Phil Steele Magazine All-American.

KICK OF THE LITTER: Tyler Loop has led the program in multiple kicking records, first the most consecutive extra-points made (103) and he is chasing down the programs’ scoring record, top-career field goal percentage (86.0%, 49 of 57) in program history, most consecutive games with a made field goal (22) in program history, tied for the highest percentage of extra-points made (100%, 53-53 in 2023), and sixth in career-scoring in program history (250; 2022-present). With all these accomplishments, Loop was named to the Lou Groza Award Watch List prior to the 2024 season. He was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2023. Loop is currently 12th in career-field goal percentage. (86.0%) in college football history, which is second among active kickers in FBS (1st; Jonah Dalmas, 88.9% – Boise State).

POLYNESIAN PIPELINE: Arizona continues to build its program with some of the top Polynesian College Football Players in the nation on its roster. The Wildcats had seven players selected to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award watch list including quarterback Noah Fifita, defensive lineman Keanu Mailoto, linebacker Jacob Manu, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, defensive lineman Stanley Ta’ufo’ou, and defensive lineman Ta’ita’I Uiagalelei. The seven players included in this watch list is second in the nation behind only BYU in 2024. It also marked the most for the Wildcats since the inception of the award preseason watch list. Fifita joined the college watch list for the first time. Savaiinaea makes his second straight appearance on the list. McMillan advanced to the finals of the 2023 award consideration after being named to the preseason list. Mailoto, Manu, Ta’ufo’ou, and Uiagalelei made their first appearance as Wildcats on this award watch list.

WATCH THIS SPACE: Arizona returns much of the 2023 roster that lifted the program to its fourth 10-win season in school history. Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan began preseason award watch list season with their selection to the Maxwell Award Watch List. In all 16 awards named Wildcats to their watch lists in the preseason.

BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL: The Arizona Wildcats were picked to finish 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll (762 points), receiving three first-place votes, as voted on by media representatives. Utah was the leading vote recipient, reeling in 20 first-place votes and 906 total points. Kansas State (2nd; 889, 19), Oklahoma State (3rd; 829, 14), Kansas (4th; 772, 5), and Arizona complete the top five. Two of the four newcomers to the conference were voted into the top five (No. 1 Utah and No. 5 Arizona). At the same time, Colorado was voted to finish 11th and Arizona State was picked to finish 16th.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM: Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, kicker Tyler Loop, linebacker Jacob Manu, and defensive back Tacario Davis were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, as announced today by the conference. The Wildcats earned five All-Conference selections to their first-ever preseason All-Big 12 Team. McMillan, Savaiinaea, Loop, Manu, and Davis continue to reel in preseason accolades as voted on by chosen media representatives who cover the conference. Arizona garnered the second-most selections from one team in the Big 12 (1st; Oklahoma State, 6).

WILDCATS IN THE NFL: Arizona currently has 14 players on NFL rosters heading into the 2024 season. Former offensive lineman Jordan Morgan was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round (25th overall) following the 2023 season. He was the first first-round selection since Antoine Cason was picked 27th overall in 2008. He joined a list that includes Cason (2008; 27th, San Diego), Trung Canidate (2000; 31st, St. Louis), Chris McAlister (1999; 10th, Baltimore), John Fina (1992; 27th, Buffalo), Chris Singleton (1990; 8th, New England), Anthony Smith (1990; 11th, Oakland), Rickey Hunley (1984; 7th, Cincinnati), Mike Dawson (1976; 22nd, Arizona), Bill Lueck (1968; 26, Green Bay), and Walt Nelson (1939; 10th, New York Giants) to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Wide receiver Jacob Cowing was picked in the fourth round (135th overall) by the San Francisco 49ers and became the highest wide receiver selected since Mike Thomas in 2009 (4th Rd, 107 overall by Jacksonville) and the first wide receiver since Juron Criner (5th Rd, 168th overall by Oakland) in 2012. Tight End Tanner McLachlan was the third Wildcat selected in the 2024 NFL Draft when the Cincinnati Bengals picked him the 6th round (194 overall). The three draft picks matched the most selected in one draft since 2014 when Ka’Deem Carey (4th Rd, 117 overall), Shaquille Richardson (5th Rd, 157th overall), and Marquis Flowers (6th Rd, 212 overall) were picked in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Current Wildcats on NFL Rosters (as of 8/21/24)