Arizona competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Big 12 Conference.

On October 18, 1926, UA quarterback and student body president John "Button" Salmon died from injuries sustained in a car wreck.

18 ranking in the Coaches and AP polls, respectively (like in 1973, both seasons ended in no bowl appearances for the Wildcats due to them finishing second in the WAC).

Smith put great emphasis on in-state recruiting, built up the rivalry with ASU, and focused the team on what he called "running and hitting".

[43] In 1982, the Wildcats improved and finished with a record of 6–4–1, which included upset victories over Notre Dame and rival ASU (with the latter being knocked out of the Rose Bowl as a result).

However, Arizona was ineligible for a bowl game due to self-imposing a postseason ban prior to the start of the season as a result of the scandal under Mason's watch.

The season included an upset victory over top-ranked Washington, which fans called the biggest Arizona win in the decade and the turning point for the program at the time.

In 1993, the Swarm continued its dominance and it led to Arizona winning nine games in a season for the first time since 1975, and won a share of the Pac-10 title with UCLA and USC.

However, the Wildcats split the two games against the two during the season, winning against the Trojans and losing to the Bruins, and it prevented Arizona from earning a trip to the Rose Bowl.

[49] It led the team to a near-perfect record of 11–1, with the Wildcats being defeated by UCLA midway through the season that denied an outright Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth.

A major highlight occurred earlier in the season when Arizona scored a memorable touchdown in the closing seconds against Washington, which led to a road victory.

Mackovic was brought to Arizona in an attempt to restore the Wildcats to their winning ways and to take them to the Rose Bowl, something that Tomey was unable to do.

This and other incidents led 40 players (including future Pro Bowler Lance Briggs) to hold a secret meeting with school president Peter Likins.

However, despite having a record of 7–1 entering November, they would collapse and went on a losing streak due to poor performances on the field, including a heartbreaking overtime loss to Arizona State in the finale.

In early October, the Wildcats would continue to lose and Stoops was fired for good, and finished with a 41–50 record in his seven and a half seasons as Arizona coach.

Also, in both seasons, the performance of running back Ka'Deem Carey led the Wildcat offense, and set Arizona records for rushing yards and touchdowns scored.

The solid performance, led by quarterback Anu Solomon, linebacker Scooby Wright III (who earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year among other honors), and running backs Terris Jones-Grigsby and Nick Wilson, led the Wildcats to the Pac-12 South Division title, which was the first divisional championship in program history, and advanced to the conference title game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where they were dominated by Oregon, 51–13, and led to Oregon clinching a spot in both the Rose Bowl and the inaugural College Football Playoff (Arizona had upset the Ducks earlier in the season for the second year in a row).

[87] Arizona did manage to pull off an overtime win against then-#10 Utah in the regular season in yet another November upset victory, mirroring the accomplishments that occurred during the early Stoops era.

With a potential chance at bowl-eligibility at stake, the Wildcats entered the final quarter thinking the game was over with a large lead, which led to a collapse and ultimately losing to end with a 5–7 record.

In 2019, with Tate returning, Arizona started 4–1 early in the season but played poorly on both offense and defense and finished the year on a seven-game losing streak that included another rivalry loss to ASU for a 4–8 record.

Prior to the start of the year, Arizona announced that Sumlin would return as coach after fans called for him to be fired late in the previous season due to team’s underperformance.

The year began with Sumlin being placed on the hot seat, meaning that he needed to take the team to the postseason in order for him to keep his job.

The Wildcats rebuilt their offense and took down Division I (FCS) powerhouse North Dakota State and upset UCLA despite a poor defense.

Fifita threw often to his former high school teammate Tetairoa McMillan as well as wide receiver Jacob Cowing and tight end Tanner McLachlan as top targets.

From mid-October to early November of the season, Arizona would compete a rare accomplishment by defeating three straight ranked teams, all Pac-12 opponents (Washington State, Oregon State, and UCLA), and winning six straight games overall to end the regular season, their longest winning streak since 1998, all which led to them becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2017.

However, as the season progressed, the Wildcats would suffer from a combination of player injuries and facing more talented Big 12 opponents, which led to them playing poorly and going on a losing streak, and is currently in danger of missing the postseason.

To reduce travel costs, early Arizona football teams played limited slates of games, mostly against squads from nearby schools.

In addition, the fans and Arizona’s student section often chant “U of A” between quarters and the school’s marching band performing “Bear Down” after victories.

During the 1982 season, the Wildcats wore their road white jerseys for several home games due to winning big on the road that year, including the rivalry game against ASU (an NCAA rule change on uniform colors in 1983 forced Arizona to wear their blue jerseys at home full-time.

[125] They wore their white jerseys and blue pants for their first two home games of the 2021 season, supposedly due to the extreme Arizona heat during the time.