It's the start of a new era for Arizona under head coach Brent Brennan in the Big 12 Conference. Despite the coaching change, the Wildcats bring back a large chunk of last season's team that went 10-3, ending the year with a 38-24 win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

Arizona opens the season No. 21 in the AP Poll with hopes of competing for a Big 12 Championship. That potential run begins Saturday night under the lights of Arizona Stadium against New Mexico.

Leading the charger for Arizona will be star quarterback Noah Fifita and receiver Tetairoa McMillan. The duo played a massive role in helping the Wildcats retain the majority of the roster to help set up what could be a historic 2024 season in Tucson.

In the program's history, Arizona has never had back-to-back 10-plus win seasons. That is the history the team is trying to accomplish.

Who: No. 21 Arizona (0-0) vs. New Mexico (0-1)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (MST)

Where: Arizona Stadium | Tucson, Ariz.

TV and channels: ESPN (24, 140, 206, 700)

Radio: 1290 AM | SiriusXM: 81

All-time series: Arizona leads 44-20-3

Odds: Arizona (-30.5), O/U (58.5)

Head coach: Bronco Mendenhall (0-1 | 1st season at UNM)

Conference standing: 11th (last season in Mountain West)

Schemes

- Offense: Spread Option

- Defense: 3-3-5

Total offense: Arizona - 20th (448.0 YPG) | New Mexico - 44th (410.6 YPG)

Scoring offense: Arizona - 18th (34.6 PPG) | New Mexico - 63rd (27.2 PPG)

Total defense: Arizona - 48th (357.9 YPG) | New Mexico - 99th (408.2 YPG)

Scoring defense: Arizona 29th (21.08 PPG) | New Mexico - 123rd (35.08 PPG)

Fresh off a strong finish to last season, Arizona will look to carry its late momentum into this year in a brand new conference. It ended last season with a bowl win over Oklahoma, who was in the Big 12 at the time and has now moved onto the SEC.

The Wildcats will take on the Lobos who already have a game under their belt this season.

New Mexico hosted Montana State in Week 0 last Saturday. It entered the game as a near two touchdown underdog, but got off to a roaring start with a 17-0 lead before later holding a 31-14 lead in the second half. The Bobcats would end up going on a 21-0 run in the final quarter to squeak out a 35-31 win over the Lobos.

It was a crazy Week 0 last weekend with all four underdogs covering and we've also seen some close calls early in Week 1 as well. It was made clear all week among the players and coaches not to take any opponent lightly.

"I think every game is a different game and it's all about how you prepare and what your mindset is going into it," Brennan said. "I don't know how those things happened the way they did (last) Saturday, but credit to those teams that either pressed those teams to the edge or in the case of Georgia Tech found a way to get it done."

The Lobos allowed 362 yards and three touchdowns on the ground to Montana State, and now heads to Tucson against an Arizona team that will debuting it's almost completely revamped backfield with Rayshon Luke being the lone returner.

It includes Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who was running wild for New Mexico all of last season for 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns.. He'll be joined by fellow transfers Quali Conley and Kedrick Reescano alongside Luke.

"(Croskey-Merritt) is an All-American for a reason," Fifita said. "You don't just throw that word around, so you see his capabilities. We understand this is a personal game for him, but at the end of the day we have been telling him all week that we have his back and to not make this more than it is. It's just another football game and we're looking forward to being able to be on the same football team as him and let him do his thing."

It'll also be the first look at what the rotation of the backfield will look like in what figures to be a hot hand type of rotation on a week-to-week basis.

There are a lot of unknowns with Arizona this season entering a new conference and playing under a new head coach, but what is known is the talent returning on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats will look to start the season off on a high note Saturday night against New Mexico.