Arizona football will become very familiar with a former conference rival in the next 12 years. The UA announced an extension on Tuesday to its series with BYU. The Wildcats will face the Cougars two more times, in 2026 and 2027.
Arizona will play BYU five times from 2016 to 2027, twice in Tucson, once in Glendale, once in Las Vegas and once at BYU.
The 2026 matchup will be in Provo, Utah, and the 2027 game will be in Tucson. The UA also announced on Tuesday that its 2020 game, originally scheduled to be at BYU, has been moved to Las Vegas, Nev., and will be played in 2021.
In April 2013, Arizona announced the original three-game series with the Cougars, for 2016, 2018 and 2020. The 2016 game will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals and the VIZIO Fiesta Bowl.
The Wildcats and the Cougars used to be conference rivals. UA and BYU, along with ASU, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, were founding members of the Western Athletic Conference in 1962.
Arizona and ASU left to join the Pac-8 Conference in 1978. In 1998, BYU, along with seven other schools, split from the WAC to form the Mountain West Conference.
Then in 2010, BYU left the Mountain West and became an independent in football. For the 2014 season, there were four FCS independents, the Cougars, Notre Dame, Army and Navy.
Arizona leads the all-time series with BYU 12-9-1. The series started in 1936, a 32-6 Arizona win.
UA played BYU three times in the 2000s, winning in 2006 in Tucson, losing in Provo in 2007 and winning the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl 31-21.
Arizona is 8-5-1 against BYU in Tucson, 3-4 in Provo and 1-0 at neutral sites.
In other future games, Arizona will host both UTSA and NAU and travel to Nevada in 2015 before starting the defense of its Pac-12 South championship.
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