Editor’s note: Second in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2026.
Most college football coaches in the offseason are reticent to say anything about future opponents on their schedules, preferring instead to focus on their season openers.
Then there’s Arizona’s Brent Brennan.
The Wildcats’ third-year coach has already started hyping up his team’s Week 2 showdown with BYU on Sept. 12, even though in-state foe Northern Arizona awaits his team on Sept. 5. Coach Kalani Sitake’s Cougars edged Arizona 33-27 last year in Tucson in double overtime.
“It’s going to be one of the best games of the whole weekend, the best games of the first month of college football. We can’t wait. We’re going to be excited to play by the time we get to it.”
— Arizona coach Brent Brennan on early-season Big 12 showdown at BYU
“I am sure Kalani would tell you the same thing: We hate (the Big 12 opener for both teams) that early,” Brennan said at the Big 12 football media days on July 8. “Obviously, it is going to be a big-time football game, especially coming off an incredible double-overtime game with them a year ago.”
Although no official preseason poll was conducted by the league office this year, for the second-straight year, most polls have BYU picked to finish in the top two and Arizona picked to finish in the top five.
“We have tremendous respect for Kalani and that staff and everything they’ve done at BYU, and I think that’s going to be one of those (games) where you are going on the road (to) a tough venue,” Brennan said. “You’re playing against an outstanding football team. Everybody in America should watch that game. It’s going to be one of the best games of the whole weekend, the best games of the first month of college football. We can’t wait. We’re going to be excited to play by the time we get to it.”
It will be a matchup of two of the top QBs in the conference, Arizona fifth-year senior Noah Fifita and BYU sophomore Bear Bachmeier. Fifita, a 5-foot-10, 190-pounder from Huntington Beach, California, is the preseason Big 12 first-team quarterback and being pushed by his school for Heisman Trophy consideration.
“I think we’re incredibly blessed to have a quarterback like Noah Fifita, who definitely has a Heisman résumé,” Brennan said. “Noah Fifita is the best story in college football. He’s an incredibly good football player, but he’s also this rare human being that chooses the right things every day.
“He’s a man of great faith. He’s a great teammate,” Brennan continued. “He’s a great leader. … He’s as special as it gets.”
And he’s 0-2 against BYU, having lost 41-19 to the Cougars in October 2024 during Arizona’s first season in the Big 12.
“Seems like we have been competing against (Fifita) forever, figuring out how to stop him,” said BYU’s Sitake, who recruited Fifita when he played for Servite High in Anaheim some six years ago.
Arizona is far from a one-man team in 2026, and Brennan is far from the Wildcats’ only accomplished coach. Offensive coordinator Seth Doege joined the program after four seasons at Texas Tech in 2025 and helped Fifita and the offense put up 407 yards and 32 points per game.
Running back Kedrick Reescano returns after rushing for nine touchdowns and 386 yards last year. Marshall transfer Antwan Roberts and Quincy Craig, who rushed for 364 yards in 2025, add depth in the backfield.
A lot depends on whether Arizona’s rebuilt offensive line can protect Fifita, open holes for the aforementioned running backs, and give Fifita time to throw to a solid, if unspectacular, group of receivers.
Defensively, linebacker Taye Brown is one of the top returning tacklers in the Big 12, having finished with 93 takedowns on 2025.
“Now that we’re two years in, our players and staff are starting to get an idea of what those games feel like and how intense this conference is,” Brennan said. “I think that makes it fun is you’re looking at a conference where everybody has a chance to win.
“We’ve had good teams over the years at the University of Arizona. We’ve had good coaches. We’ve had good players, but we’re trying to build a sustainable, consistent, winning program,” Brennan continued. “That’s the goal, and that’s what we’re all in lockstep trying to do. … I can’t wait to get started in about two and a half weeks.”
Having spent three years trying unsuccessfully to break into the starting lineup at BYU, former three-star offensive lineman Jake Griffin has transferred to Arizona and is battling for a bigger role with that program.
2026 Arizona Wildcats at a glance
- 2025 record: 9-4 (6-3 Big 12)
Utah ties
- Offensive lineman Jake Griffin spent three seasons at BYU
- Linebacker Chase Kennedy began his career at Utah
- Offensive lineman Rhino Tapa’atoutai is from West Valley City
2026 schedule
- Sept. 5: vs. Northern Arizona
- Sept. 12: at BYU
- Sept. 19: vs. Northern Illinois
- Sept. 26: at Washington State
- Oct. 3: vs. Cincinnati
- Oct. 10: at West Virginia
- Oct. 24: vs. Iowa State
- Oct. 31: at Texas Tech
- Nov. 6: vs. TCU
- Nov. 14: vs. Utah
- Nov. 21: at Kansas State
- Nov. 28: vs. Arizona State
