Arizona Wildcats 2025 College Football Preview
Posted July 2, 2025
2024 Recap
Record – 4-8
ATS – 2-10
Arizona fans had to be wondering WHAT in the SAM HILL was going on last year as the Wildcats followed up a wonderful 2023 season (10-3) in the PAC 12 with a big steaming turd in year one in the Big 12. There were a lot of injuries to deal with and the team fell apart and lost seven of their final eight games, and that included a 49-7 pasting at the hands of their hated rivals from Arizona St.
Can they turn things around in 2025?
Arizona Wildcats 2025 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Wildcats ripped teams apart in 2023 (35 PPG, #18) but they really struggled SCORING the FOOTBALL last season (22 PPG, #114). The offensive line was seriously hampered by injuries LY but the hard fact is that QB Noah Fifita was a major disappointment (60%, 18-12 TD to INT) after having a fantastic 2023 campaign (72%, 25-6 TD to INT). Fifita certainly has the talent to bounce back but he’ll need to find a new primary target given the departure of superstar WR Tetairoa McMillan (1,319, 8 TD) who was taken in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. The good news is that Arizona did some fine patchwork thru the portal by grabbing a pair of talented specimens in WR Luke Wysong (840, TD LY with New Mexico) and WR Kris Hutson (683, 2 TD, Wash St). The RB room features a one-two punch of Texas St transfer Ismail Mahdi (991 yards, 1,331 yards, Texas St L2Y) and LY’s #2 rusher Kedrick Reescano. The OL has good size and will almost certainly be healthier this season, and note that the Cats added over half a dozen transfers to the group. Look for a much more potent Arizona offense in 2025.
DEFENSE
The defense also took a major step backwards LY as they had trouble stopping the run (174 YPG, #98), defending the pass (#116 pass efficiency D, 64%, 24-8 TD to INT), and achieving PENETRATION (20 sacks, #98). We anticipate at least moderate improvement this season given the return of nine starters including their top-four tacklers, and they have impact doods at every level. DE Tre Smith is one of the best in the conference at his position (7.5 TFL, 10 QBH), LB Taye Brown is a force in the middle of the defense (#2 tackles), and the Cats boast a legit safety combo in Dalton Johnson (#1 tackler) and Genesis Smith (3.5 TFL, 3 INT). Arizona did a good job of supplementing the defense with transfer talent so we expect them to improve on this side of the football as well.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Things appear average across the board and our only concern is at PK where the Cats will have to find a replacement for the reliable Tyler Loop (18/23 FG LY, 13-17 from 40+ !!).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The Cats open with three non-conference home games and the only challenging affair is the date with Kansas St (non-conference game classification). Arizona opens with a tough Big 12 test (at Iowa St) but it’s relatively smooth sailing in conference play until the final two games (Baylor, at Arizona St). Missing Utah is a bonus.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing spooky worth mentioning.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 2
Over 5.5 +110
Under 5.5 -140
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over
This has the look of a bowl team and asking them to win six games at “+” money doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Arizona has one of the worst ATS marks in the entire country over the last 10 years as they’ve cost DEGENERATE NATION a lot of cash money, yo (48-67-1, 42%). They’ve been particularly wretched in the role of road underdog (14-26, 35%).
Arizona’s last conference title came back in 1993 when they shared the PAC 12 honors with USC and UCLA (all 6-2 in conference play).
Climate “experts” predict that people in Tucson will experience at least 45 days a year of temperatures over 106 degrees by the year 2050. These are the same CHUCKLEHEADS that told us Florida would be 90% underwater by the year 1998. Now go put on your mask, get another death booster, and eat the bugs, you white supremacist transphobe.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
People in the GREAT STATE of ARIZONA must have thought they were living in BIZARRO WORLD in 2024. The Sun Devils had a phenomenal season and made the College Football Playoff whilst the Wildcats were stuck in the mud. Arizona looks like a much more dangerous team this year as the THROW GAME won’t be reliant on one player and we expect better things out of the ground attack. Oh, and they have one of the most talented QBs in the conference. The defense should also be improved over what we saw last year so we’ll call for a bowl bid and a return to a better brand of football.