Arizona football receiver Tre Spivey 'ready to make the next step' in 2026

FRISCO, Texas — Maybe EA Sports has a personal vendetta against players who wear No. 12 as their jersey number at Arizona? 

Maybe EA Sports has something against players who prepped at Hamilton High School in Chandler?

Whatever it is, for the second straight year, the popular video game publisher gave one of Arizona's top players a somewhat questionable player rating in "College Football 27," which is available everywhere. 

Arizona redshirt junior wide receiver Tre Spivey, who's the Wildcats' leading returner at receiver, was given an 80 overall player rating. Spivey is tied with defensive tackle Leroy Palu and kicker Michael Salgado-Medina for the 11th-best player rating in the latest edition of the college football video game. 

When Spivey was asked about his player rating at Big 12 Media Days at Ford Center, the Arizona receiver responded, "The answer I should say is I'm not too worried about it."

"Honestly, I don't really care," Spivey said. "What I will say is that I don't think it's accurate. But that just gives me a chip on my shoulder to continue to work this season. It gives me something to prove. As a kid, everyone wants to be in the game and be the best in the game. You want to be able to use your character and be good with your character. It is what it is. It just gives me a chip on my shoulder." 

Last year, Arizona safety Genesis Smith — one of Spivey's closest friends and now a rookie for the Los Angeles Chargers — had a 78 overall rating in College Football 26 despite a highly productive season in 2024. 

"It definitely could’ve been a lot better, but it’s all good," Smith said last year. "Hopefully I get bumped up later. It happens. There’s nothing I can do about it except go out and play in real life and ball out."

Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes said Smith's 78 rating was "far too low."

"That might be EA’s biggest blunder of the year so far,” Stukes added. "It’s just inexcusable."

Smith had the fourth-most tackles (77) and second-most pass breakups (8) at Arizona this past season and finished with an 87 player rating. 

"Genesis was one of those guys where he truly didn't care about the outside world and how people view him, stuff like that," Spivey said at Big 12 Media Days. "He was definitely like, 'Damn, that's crazy,' especially after the season prior. But you see where he got to, he's in the NFL and one of the best safeties in the country. It gives me some extra motivation and I'm excited to go prove myself right."

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, who's the only Wildcat with a 90 overall rating in College Football 27, "was shocked" when he saw Spivey's rating.

"That made me a little irritated," Fifita said. "At the same time, the good rankings, the bad rankings, at the end of the day, nothing matters once we get on the field and prove it. I do think he's going to turn some heads and prove that he's the best receiver in the Big 12.

"I think we've seen how explosive he is with the ball in his hands. I don't think people know how well he can attack the ball and play the ball in the air." 

The 6-4, 213-pound Spivey transferred to Arizona following two seasons at Kansas State and became one of the UA's top big-bodied receivers in the first season of the post-Tetairoa McMillan era. 

Spivey scored eight touchdowns and caught 23 passes for 381 yards — 198 yards after catch. Spivey scored touchdowns in five of Arizona's first eight games of the season. He led the Wildcats with seven receiving touchdowns and scored the second-to-last touchdown in Arizona's comeback attempt against SMU in the Holiday Bowl. 

Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege said Spivey could've contributed more as a redshirt sophomore in 2025, but "there were too many inconsistencies."

"Lining up, running the right route at the right depth, on the right time, the right split — everything matters in Big 12 play," Doege said of Spivey in the spring. "It's been fun to watch a guy like Spivey truly master that.

"He's gotten to the point where he's consistently lining up correctly, consistently getting to his depth (on routes), he's consistently winning on routes, he's consistently attacking the football. Because of that, in my opinion, he's had one of the most explosive camps out of anybody. I'm excited about him." 

Spivey, after becoming one of Arizona's top receivers, emerged as one of Fifita's top pass catchers in the spring, high-pointing catches over multiple defenders and running through traffic in the defensive secondary. 

So, when the College Football 27 ratings were released, the Wildcats — Spivey included — were surprised to see his 80 overall rating. 

"Honestly, it was super disrespectful," said Arizona wide receiver Chris Hunter. "We all saw what he did last year. At the end of the day, we truly don't care. If they gave us a higher overall (rating), we'd be cool with that. The disrespect is something we've all been feeling and seeing. We'll go out there and ball on the field and the game will change."

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan doesn't subscribe to the idea of Spivey flying under the radar this season. 

"I don't know, the guy had a lot of touchdowns last year," Brennan said. "He did have a lot of production, but not on a ton of touches. Maybe it's based on his touches?" 

Regardless of how College Football 27 assesses Spivey, "he's ready to make the next step" as a wide receiver, Brennan said.

"That's how I see it for Tre Spivey, it's time for him to make a a big jump into one of the best receivers in the Big 12 and into a legitimate prospect for the NFL," Brennan said.

"That time is now."

Extra points

– At Big 12 Media Days, Brennan said a potential breakout player on defense for Arizona is senior linebacker Chase Kennedy. Said Brennan: "People are aware of him, but not super aware. He's a guy that's going to explode."

– Brennan said Arizona's potential offensive breakouts this season include senior running back Quincy Craig, "who was productive for us last year and I think he's going to make a real big jump." Brennan said sophomore wide receiver Giovanni Richardson "is going to make a really, really big jump."

– Other offensive breakout candidates Brennan listed were Illinois transfer tight end Cole Rusk and redshirt senior tight end Tyler Powell. Said Brennan: "There's a lot of good candidates that I think people are going to be excited about when we play this fall."