Arizona Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college football) level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Arizona's chief intercollegiate rival is the Arizona State Sun Devils, and the two universities' athletic departments compete against each other in multiple sports via the State Farm Territorial Cup Series. On August 4, 2023, Arizona accepted an invite to join the Big 12 Conference, effective August 2, 2024. Athletic program The University of Arizona participates in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Pac-12 Conference Arizona participates in the conference's South Division, along with Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, and Utah. Arizona joined the Pac-8 in 1978 along with Arizona State University, bringing the conference to 10 teams and the new name of the Pac-10 (the conference became the Pac-12 with the additions of Colorado and Utah in 2011). The school colors are cardinal red and navy blue since 1900, though originally sage green and silver. The official fight song is "Fight! Wildcats! Fight!", though "Bear Down, Arizona!" is more commonly used and "Bear Down" is the university's slogan. History The Wildcats name derived from a 1914 football game with then California champions Occidental College, where the Los Angeles Times asserted that Arizona "showed the fight of wildcats." The first sport to bring national recognition to UA was polo. The 1924 UA polo team captured the Western Collegiate Championship, and traveled to the east coast to present U.S. President Calvin Coolidge with a cowboy hat. The UA polo team faced Princeton University for the intercollegiate title and lost 6–2 and 8–0. With the onset of World War II, the UA was unable to continue sponsoring a polo team.