Arizona Wildcats
The Arizona Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Arizona's chief intercollegiate rival is the Arizona State Sun Devils, and the two universities' athletic departments compete against each other in multiple sports via the State Farm Territorial Cup Series.
Athletic program
Beginning on August 2, 2024, the University of Arizona will participate in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Big 12 Conference alongside former Pac-12 members Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. Arizona joined the Pac-8 in 1978 along with Arizona State University, bringing the conference to 10 teams and the new name of the Pac-10. The school colors are cardinal red and navy blue since 1900, though originally sage green and silver. The official fight song is "Fight! Wildcats! Fight!", though "Bear Down, Arizona!" is more commonly used and "Bear Down" is the university's slogan. On August 4, 2023, Arizona accepted an invite to join the Big 12 Conference, effective August 2, 2024.History
The Wildcats name derived from a 1914 football game with then California champions Occidental College, where the Los Angeles Times asserted that Arizona "showed the fight of wildcats."- The first sport to bring national recognition to UA was polo. The 1924 UA polo team captured the Western Collegiate Championship, and traveled to the east coast to present U.S. President Calvin Coolidge with a cowboy hat. The UA polo team faced Princeton University for the intercollegiate title and lost 6–2 and 8–0. With the onset of World War II, the UA was unable to continue sponsoring a polo team.
Mascot
Arizona's first mascot was a real desert bobcat named "Rufus Arizona", introduced in 1915 and named after the university's president at the time, Rufus B. von KleinSmid.
Rivalries
A strong athletic rivalry exists between the University of Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State University Sun Devils, the state's only two Division I-FBS teams. The rivalry has been recognized as one of the most bitter rivalries in college sports. Both schools compete in the State Farm Territorial Cup Series, a head-to-head competition in 18 different sports. The football rivalry, nicknamed "The Duel in the Desert," is the oldest rivalry game in college football that features a trophy. The trophy awarded after each football game is the Territorial Cup. The teams first played in 1899, while the Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The University of Arizona holds the all-time record in all 3 major men's sports. Starting with basketball, they hold a record of 159–87 against ASU. They also hold the all-time record in football 51–45–1. Finally, Arizona holds the all-time record in baseball 260–227–1.Rivalries have also been created with other Pac-12 teams, especially University of California, Los Angeles which has been a consistent softball rival and was Arizona's main men's basketball rival from the late 1980s to the present. Arizona joined the Big 12 in the 2024–25 school year.
Arizona has two dormant rivalries with two other former Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association members, the New Mexico Lobos and Texas Tech Red Raiders, with the latter being a Big 12 opponent starting in 2024. Although Arizona remained in the Border Conference until it folded in 1961, New Mexico and Texas Tech withdrew from the Border Conference in 1952 and 1956 respectively. Both football programs remained on Arizona's schedule annually until the late 1970s, even though Texas Tech was a member of the Southwest Conference and New Mexico was a member of the Skyline Eight. In 1962, Arizona and New Mexico once again became conference rivals as charter members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Kit Carson Rifle was a traveling trophy exchanged between the Wildcats and Lobos from 1938 though 1990. Prior to the 1997 Insight.com Bowl, two schools announced the Kit Carson Rifle would not be awarded to the bowl game's winner because the trophy may have been used against Native Americans.
Varsity sports
The University of Arizona sponsors teams in eight men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports.Baseball
The baseball team is consistently one of the top teams in the country and has captured four national championship titles in 1976, 1980, 1986, and 2012. Arizona's baseball teams have appeared in the NCAA College World Series more than fifteen times., the team is coached by Chip Hale.Men's basketball
The men's basketball team has been one of the nation's most successful programs since Lute Olson was hired as head coach in 1983 and was known as a national powerhouse in Division I men's basketball. From 1988 to 2007, the team amassed 20 consecutive 20-win seasons. Arizona reached the NCAA tournament in 25 consecutive years from 1985 to 2009. The Wildcats reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 1988, 1994, 1997, and 2001.In 1997, Arizona defeated the University of Kentucky, the defending national champions, to win the NCAA National Championship. Their championship team was led by future NBA players Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson, as well as Final Four MVP Miles Simon. Bennett Davison and A. J. Bramlett rounded out the starting five. Other team members include Jason Terry, Eugene Edgerson and Josh Pastner. They defeated three number-one seeds in the same tournament: Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky in the Championship Game. They won a thriller game in the Elite Eight in double overtime to take them to the Final Four.
After 25 years of coaching Arizona, Lute Olson retired shortly before the 2008–2009 season, largely due to on-going health issues. After several years of coaching by interim head coaches, Arizona named Sean Miller, formerly the head coach of Xavier, as the Wildcats head coach. In the NCAA Tournament, Sean Miller led the Wildcats to 3 Elite Eight appearances.
After 12 years at the helm, Arizona and head coach Sean Miller parted ways. In April 2021, it was announced that Tommy Lloyd, the longtime top assistant coach at Gonzaga under Mark Few, would be the next head coach of Arizona men's basketball.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball program began intercollegiate play in 1972. Before that, it was an intramural sport. It has spent most of its history under the shadow of its men’s counterpart, though it has become more successful in recent years. The team has twice been runner-up in the Pac-10 Conference Tournament and has made seven appearances in NCAA tournaments, and gone abroad to play in four foreign countries. The program has had nine coaches in its fifty-plus years, with Becky Burke as head coach since 2025. In 2021, under Adia Barnes, Arizona advanced to their first-ever Final Four. The Wildcats had an all-time win-loss record of 682–746.Football
The football team began at the University of Arizona in 1899 under the nickname "Varsity". During the 1980s under coach Larry Smith, Arizona began a resurgence of winning and was notably successful in the 1990s under Dick Tomey and his dominant "Desert Swarm" defense that was characterized by tough, hard-nosed tactics. During the 1992 season, the team used the “Swarm” to upset Washington]. In 1993, the Wildcats had their first 10-win season and captured a share of the Pac-10 title, and drubbed the powerhouse Miami Hurricanes in the 1994 Fiesta Bowl by a score of 29–0. In 1998, Arizona posted a school-record 12–1 season and made the 1998 Holiday Bowl in which it defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers Despite a stellar season, the Wildcats lost to UCLA during the regular season that prevented an outright Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl appearance. After mediocre seasons in 1999 and 2000, Tomey stepped down as coach after the latter season.The Wildcats would decline in wins during most of the 2000s after Tomey resigned. His successor, John Mackovic took over in 2001 and would become a disaster for the program, as he mistreated and abused players while continuously losing games, all of which led to his firing in 2003. In 2004, Arizona hired Mike Stoops, brother of then-Oklahoma coach Bob, to take over the program. Stoops would rebuild the team from 2004 to 2007 and earn signature wins during each of these seasons. In 2008, Stoops led the Wildcats to a win over BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, which was both their first bowl game and winning season in a decade. Arizona would become both Pac-10 and Rose Bowl contenders in 2010 before playing poorly late in that season. After Arizona continued to struggle in 2011, Stoops was fired as coach due to the inability to win.
Former West Virginia and Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez was hired to lead the Wildcats in 2012. Using Rodriguez’s spread offense attack, the Wildcats would earn bowl victories in his first two seasons. In 2014, the Wildcats continued to excel on offense and won the Pac-12 South Division. However, they would lose big to Oregon in the conference championship game that prevented Arizona from earning a possible trip to the inaugural College Football Playoff. They instead ended up appearing in the Fiesta Bowl, losing to Boise State. The Wildcats finished the 2014 season with a record of 10–4, achieving only the third 10-win season in program history. Arizona was unable to duplicate the success from 2014 in the 2015–17 seasons, and Rodriguez was dismissed for issues occurring off the field at the conclusion of the 2017 season.
Kevin Sumlin, the ex-Houston and Texas A&M coach, replaced Rodriguez in 2018. However, he was unable to meet expectations and was fired after the 2020 season. Jedd Fisch was hired as the next coach for 2021. He would go into rebuilding mode and in 2023, he led Arizona to their fourth ten-win season and defeated Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. After the season concluded, Fisch was hired by Washington to take over as head coach, which forced Arizona to find his successor.
San Jose State coach Brent Brennan was hired as the new Wildcat head coach in 2024. Brennan was a former Arizona assistant under Tomey in 2000. The Wildcats joined the Big 12 at the start of the 2024 season.