Northern Arizona (1-0) travels to Arizona, with Arizona favored by 31.5.
What’s at stake
Arizona
- A win puts Arizona a step closer to a 10% shot at the CFP field.
- Arizona is the Big 12 newcomer whose 1998 12-1 Holiday Bowl + 2024 10-3 + Jedd Fisch + Brent Brennan transition define what modern desert-football looks like.
Northern Arizona
- A win would be one of Northern Arizona’s biggest of the season — a 126-spot gap in the power ratings.
The series
Arizona leads the series 16-2
18 meetings since 1931 · Arizona has won the last 2
- 2024Arizona 22–10
- 2023Arizona 38–3
- 2021Northern Arizona 21–19
- 2019Arizona 65–41
- 2017Arizona 62–24
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
Northern Arizona
The chipNorthern Arizona doesn't carry resentment — the fanbase has accepted the transition from Division II dominance to FCS respectability.
What this game touches
Division II success that did not translate to I-AA relevance. Northern Arizona won four consecutive NCAA Division II national championships (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981) under coach Jerry Dunn, creating the Flagstaff program legend. Upon reclassifying to I-AA in 1996, the Lumberjacks entered a national stage they could not compete at. Three decades later, they have settled into a mid-Big Sky program with a trophy case that feels from another era.
Arizona
The chip · vs the national mediaWildcat fans say the sport filed Arizona under 'Pac-12 survivor' the day the old league died and never updated the file — they say a 9-4 Big 12 season barely moved the needle, and the desert is tired of being treated as filler.
What this game touches
The 2024 crash that nearly cost a coach his job. After a 10-3 rise under Jedd Fisch, Arizona watched him leave for Washington, then collapsed to 4-8 in Brent Brennan's first season and its debut Big 12 year — the fanbase openly calling for a coaching change before the 2025 rebound made the question moot.
Best players
Arizona
- Taye Brown (LB) · 2025: 93 tackles
- Noah Fifita (QB) · 2025: 3,228 passing yards — Heisman odds: 34th (+10000)
- Max Harris (LB) · 2025: 78 tackles
The line, and the room
The model and the market are in lockstep on Arizona’s chances here.
Home −31.5 · O/U 58.5
Conditions
90°F · 7 mph wind · Rain
Arizona is 51% at home, 31% on the road since 2018 (25-24 home, 12-27 away).