Arizona has never beaten Kansas State. In year three of the rivalry, Brent Brennan's most experienced team yet gets a shot to change that in a building that's given the Wildcats fits.
Bush’s Picks
ARIZKSU
ARIZKSU
OverUnder
Best BetArizona
Arizona brings the more proven quarterback and the better overall roster continuity into this one, and that talent gap should show up on the scoreboard even on the road. Kansas State's coaching transition and a weak transfer portal haul are real question marks heading into a season where the staff is still figuring out its identity. Back Arizona to finally get past a team it's lost to twice.
Arizona
+Fifita returns after 29-TD, 3,228-yard 2025 season
+Closed 2025 on a 5-game win streak
+Top receivers Hunter and Spivey both back
−0-2 all-time against Kansas State in this series
−Lost Holiday Bowl 24-19 to SMU to end 2025
−Must replace departed RB/WR production
Kansas State
+Avery Johnson returns as a proven dual-threat QB
+Joe Jackson back after 911-yard rushing season
+Has beaten Arizona in both prior meetings
−New head coach Collin Klein replacing Chris Klieman
−Transfer portal class graded near bottom of Big 12
−Missed a bowl game in 2025 for first time since 2020
This is a Big 12 game with real playoff-picture stakes attached by the time Friday, November 20 rolls around, and both programs are entering the season with very different vibes. Arizona returns basically its whole operation around Noah Fifita, who threw for 3,228 yards and 29 touchdowns a year ago. Kansas State is starting over at the top, with program legend Collin Klein taking the reins after Chris Klieman's retirement — a new voice, a new staff, and a defense that lost pieces to the portal.
Fifita is the headline here. He's one of the more battle-tested quarterbacks in the conference, and Arizona closed 2025 on a five-game heater before a 24-19 Holiday Bowl loss to SMU. Receivers Chris Hunter and Tre Spivey are both back to catch his passes, and the portal additions were aimed at culture fits up front rather than splashy names. The question is whether that continuity is enough to finally get past a team that's swept this series.
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ARIZ Arizona
KSU Kansas State
Kansas State's counter is Avery Johnson, a dual-threat piece who threw for 2,385 yards and ran for 296 more in 2025, plus a run game anchored by Joe Jackson coming off a 911-yard season. The problem is everything around them. Klein's first transfer class got graded near the bottom of the Big 12, and a program that missed a bowl for the first time since 2020 is now betting on a new offensive and defensive staff to find its footing fast.
Arizona Wildcats
Nov 13?vs Utah—
Nov 6?vs TCU—
Oct 30?@ Texas Tech—
Oct 9?@ West Virginia—
Oct 2?vs Cincinnati—
Sep 26?@ Washington State—
Sep 19?vs Northern Illinois—
Sep 12?@ BYU—
Sep 5?vs Northern Arizona—
Kansas State Wildcats
Nov 13?@ TCU—
Nov 6?vs Oklahoma State—
Oct 30?@ Colorado—
Oct 16?vs Kansas—
Oct 9?vs Houston—
Sep 25?@ Cincinnati—
Sep 19?vs Tulane—
Sep 12?vs Washington State—
Sep 5?vs Nicholls—
Recent form.
History complicates the read. Kansas State has won both previous meetings with Arizona since the Wildcats joined the Big 12, including a 31-7 result in Manhattan in 2024. That's the whole tension of this matchup — Arizona looks like the more talented, more experienced team on paper, but K-State has actually owned this series, and a home crowd in late November is no joke for a program trying to salvage a transition year.
Arizona Wildcats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Kansas State Wildcats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Neither team is likely to be playing for a Big 12 title by the time this one kicks off, but both could be squarely in the bowl-eligibility and seeding conversation, which raises the stakes on a game that otherwise wouldn't get much national attention. For Arizona, it's a chance to finally solve a team that's had its number. For Kansas State, it's a chance to prove Klein's rebuild isn't as shaky as the offseason grades suggested.
