2025 Arizona Football Predictions: Wildcats Ranked 38th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136

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3 days ago

College Football 2025 Arizona Football Predictions: Wildcats Ranked 38th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136
Published
Aug. 10, 2025 8:43 p.m. ET
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This isn't your average college football ranking.
My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:
Who do I think is good?
Why do I think they're good?
What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?
Here is a look at where Arizona lands in my Ultimate 136.
Arizona ranking: 38
Last year's ranking: 23
Top player: QB Noah Fifita: Has thrown for 5,955 yards in his career, the 10th most in Arizona history; his 44 TD passes are the seventh most in program history.
[Arizona's 2025 schedule]
RJ's take: After a remarkable 2023 run that saw the Wildcats finish 10-3 with a win against Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, Arizona looked like it might be a sexy pick for the 12-team CFP. Instead, former head coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington and Brent Brennan took over a program with just one winning season since 2016.
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Last year hurt, not just because the Wildcats finished 4-8, but squandered one of the best QB-WR duos in the sport. Now Tetairoa McMillan is gone. They'll need a new No. 1 WR, and they'll need Noah Fifita to return to the man he showed himself to be in 2023.
There's just an 11-yard difference between Fifita's passing yards in 2023 and 2024, but he threw for twice as many INTs (12) and seven fewer TDs (18) in 2024 as he did the previous year.
But Fifita was still better offensively than Brennan's defense, a unit that gave up 413 yards and 32 points per game, up from 21 points per game in 2023. New OC Seth Doege averaged more than 300 yards passing, 200 yards rushing and 35 points as an offensive coordinator at 10-win Marshall last year. And maybe that fixes things.
The schedule does Arizona a favor this year with its toughest opponents being Big 12 title contenders: at Arizona State, Kansas State, at Colorado and at Iowa State.
[ Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here ]
Arizona Win Total Odds: Over 5.5 (-106) Under 5.5 (-114)
Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young , and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.
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