Where might Arizona football land in the 2026 bowl lineup?

And once again, the primary landing spots for teams that don't qualify for the College Football Playoff will be the Alamo, Las Vegas, Holiday and Sun Bowls.

The Independence is back in the rotation, as well. And the Poinsettia, in San Diego, is reportedly returning to action after a nine-year hiatus.

If that arrangement weren't complicated enough, with the bowl tie-ins from 2023 in place for 2026, there's an added complication. The Pac-12 reconstituted this summer with Washington State, Oregon State and six new teams, and some overlap exists with the bowl selection process.

For these projections, our focus will remain the 12 legacy schools, which includes Arizona.

Here we go.

College Football Playoff

Team: Oregon

Comment: Only a fairly stunning sequence of events will prevent the Ducks from making their third consecutive appearance in the CFP. But the bar is higher than mere participation for Dan Lanning and Co., who were blown off the field by Ohio State two years ago and Indiana last season. Considering their loaded roster, the Ducks need to reach the championship game for the season to be considered an indisputable success.

Alamo Bowl

Team: Washington

Comment: The Huskies are one of several Pac-12 legacy teams with a realistic chance to make the CFP. Given the layout of their schedule, which starts soft and builds to a brutal finish, the Huskies must be at least 9-1 entering the final two games, then conjure a split against Indiana (home) and Oregon (road). From our vantage point, the roster isn't quite talented enough to avoid multiple stumbles between early September and the middle of November. The Alamo (vs. the Big 12) would nonetheless constitute progress under third-year coach Jedd Fisch.

Las Vegas Bowl

Team: Arizona

Comment: Our forecast for the Wildcats, who would face an SEC or Big Ten foe in Las Vegas, is admittedly rosier than most. It's based on the presence of an elite quarterback (Noah Fifita), coaching continuity, experience on the lines of scrimmage, proven playmakers and a manageable schedule. If that mix of ingredients were in place for USC, Utah, Washington or Oregon following a nine-win season, projections for the following fall would be glowing. But because of Arizona's low football profile, national expectations are modest.

Holiday Bowl

Team: USC

Comment: What could be a make-or-break fifth season for Lincoln Riley features significant buzz, and with good reason. The Trojans retained quarterback Jayden Maiava, fortified the lines of scrimmage and employed the services of a defensive master, Gary Patterson, to upgrade a unit that has not functioned at a playoff-caliber level in the Riley era. Will that be enough for a CFP berth? USC needs to win at least three of five games against Oregon, Washington, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana. That feels like a stretch, leading to a date in the Holiday against an ACC opponent.

Sun Bowl

Team: Utah

Comment: Our outlook for the first year of the Morgan Scalley era is slightly skeptical. But of this, we have no doubt: The schedule is built for eight wins. The Utes miss Texas Tech, play Houston and BYU at home and have only two tough road games (Arizona and TCU). If they win eight, the Holiday Bowl could come calling. We see the Sun Bowl (vs. the ACC) as their floor.

Poinsettia Bowl

Team: UCLA

Comment: Operated by the same folks who run the Holiday, the Poinsettia Bowl will match one of the 10 departed Pac-12 schools against a team from the new version of the conference (including Washington State and Oregon State). It stands as an obvious landing spot for one of the six- or seven-win teams that will inevitably emerge. The Bruins have a soft schedule and would offer the reborn bowl solid ticket-sale possibilities.

Independence Bowl

Team: Arizona State

Comment: The Independence returns to the rotation having last welcomed a Pac-12 representative in 2023 (Cal) and will match one of the legacy teams against the Big 12. The Sun Devils seem well-matched for a mid-level bowl like the Independence, or perhaps the Poinsettia, considering the uncertainty at quarterback and an arduous schedule. What's more, they won't be a candidate for the Sun, having participated last year, and the Holiday seems a tier too high.

ESPN bowl pools

Cal: The Bears have not won more than seven games in the regular season since 2009, a remarkable stretch of mediocrity. Will first-year coach Tosh Lupoi create a new ceiling? We need to see it to believe it, especially with a schedule that offers little margin for error. The opener, against UCLA, is a whopper — not only because of the ongoing bitterness over the Bruins' role in the demise of the Pac-12 but also because of the impact the result will have on each team's bowl math.

Washington State: No team possesses a wider range of outcomes than the Cougars, who could win the rebuilt Pac-12 and climb into the Holiday or Sun. Or they could stumble badly and be eliminated from the postseason in early November. The schedule doesn't help matters, with three difficult nonconference games: Washington, Kansas State and Arizona. If they lose all three, the Cougars would need to win six of the remaining nine to become bowl-eligible.

Non-qualifiers

Colorado: There's a path into the postseason for CU, but it requires high-level play from an inexperienced quarterback (Julian Lewis), dramatic improvement from what has been a subpar offensive line and expert coaching from a staff with two new coordinators. Bottom line: We aren't convinced Deion Sanders can win without his son (Shedeur) at quarterback and a generational talent (Travis Hunter) playing both sides of scrimmage.

Oregon State: Combine a first-year head coach (JaMarcus Shephard) with a new starting quarterback (Braden Atkinson, a transfer from Mercer) and a schedule that begins with Texas Tech and Houston — both are ranked in the AP preseason poll — and it seems likely that Oregon State will be playing from behind. Can the Beavers win six of their last 10, presuming they lose the Big 12 double-whammy? Not from where we sit.

Stanford: Given the tepid state of the roster and the undeniable strength of the schedule, which includes four teams in the AP preseason poll (Miami, Notre Dame, Louisville and SMU), it's difficult to envision the Cardinal reaching the six-win threshold for the first time since 2018. New coach Tavita Pritchard has a massive challenge ahead to make Stanford relevant in the next two or three years.