The 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats will face the SMU Mustangs in the Holiday Bowl.
After several hours of negotiations, Arizona's opponent for the Holiday Bowl was finalized Sunday afternoon.
The Holiday Bowl will be held at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Friday, Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. The combined payout is $5.9 million. The presenting sponsor of the Holiday Bowl is Trust & Will, a San Diego-based and AI-driven company that specializes in creating trusts and wills.
The Wildcats have played in the Holiday Bowl twice; both games were at Qualcomm Stadium, the former home venue of the San Diego Chargers. This season will be the second Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium, the home venue of San Diego State football and professional soccer clubs San Diego FC and San Diego Wave FC.
Arizona played in the first-ever event at Snapdragon Stadium in 2022, when the Wildcats opened the season with a victory over San Diego State in former UA head coach Jedd Fisch's second season. Arizona will be on the east side of Snapdragon Stadium for the Holiday Bowl, which is the visitor's side.
Arizona coach Dick Tomey, right, and players lift the Holiday Bowl trophy after Arizona defeated Nebraska 23-20 on Dec. 30, 1998, in San Diego.
The first time the Wildcats played in the Holiday Bowl (then sponsored by Culligan), Arizona beat the defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers to cap the 12-1 season in 1998, which is considered the best season in program history.
Brad Brennan, the younger brother of Arizona second-year head coach Brent Brennan, caught a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 16-13 lead over the Cornhuskers in 1998. Arizona won, 23-20. Arizona quarterback Keith Smith was named Offensive MVP of the 1998 Holiday Bowl.
Arizona went on a 10-year bowl drought after the 1998 season and won the Las Vegas Bowl in 2008, before returning to the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl in 2009 for a rematch with Nebraska, which had Heisman Trophy finalist and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
The Cornhuskers clobbered the Wildcats, 33-0, which remains the only shutout win in the bowl game's 45-year history.
The 2009 Holiday Bowl is the third shutout loss in the postseason for Arizona. The Wildcats were shut out by Centre College in the 1921 San Diego East-West Christmas Classic and the 1990 Aloha Bowl, a 28-0 loss to Syracuse.
SMU defensive linemen William Spencer (55) and Blake Burris (91) celebrate after the Mustangs' goal line stand stops Syracuse on a fourth-and-goal play during the first half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)
SMU has played in the Holiday Bowl once, a 46-45 shootout loss to BYU in 1980. SMU's "Pony Express" offense was led by star running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James in 1980.
This year marks the 22nd bowl game in Arizona's program history. The Wildcats are 10-10-1 in bowl games dating to 1921. This year will be the ninth bowl appearance for the Wildcats this century.
SMU is in its fourth season under head coach Rhett Lashlee, who is 37-16 since taking over in 2022 — 8-4 this season. The Mustangs lost in the first round of the College Football Playoff last season. SMU went 6-2 in conference play in its second season in the ACC this year.
SMU had the second-best passing offense in the ACC this season, averaging 283.5 yards per game. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings has passed for 3,363 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season. SMU's leading receiver Jordan Hudson is sixth in the ACC with 749 yards and six touchdowns.
SMU's top two rushers are T.J. Harden, who has 747 yards and seven touchdowns this season, and Chris Johnson Jr., the son of former NFL star and Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan goes down the line of fans for high fives after the Wildcats held on to edge Kansas 24-20, Nov. 8, 2025, at Arizona Stadium.
The Mustangs rank 30th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 32.9 points per game; Arizona is No. 32, averaging 32.6 points per contest this season.
SMU has the fourth-best rushing defense in the ACC, but is second-to-last in the conference in passing defense, surrendering 284.7 yards per game. SMU safety Ahmaad Moses is tied for the third-most interceptions (5) in college football this season; he also has 91 tackles.
Arizona (9-3) has played SMU (8-4) twice dating back to 1938. The Wildcats lost their first matchup to the Mustangs, 29-7, in Dallas during the 1938 season. Arizona beat third-ranked SMU, 28-6, in Tucson in 1985. Arizona finished the season 8-3-1 and went on to tie the Georgia Bulldogs at the Sun Bowl in El Paso.
In addition to discovering its bowl destination on Sunday, the Wildcats also moved up a spot from No. 18 to No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Arizona is the fourth-highest ranked team entering the postseason behind No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 12 BYU and No. 15 Utah. No. 21 Houston is the fifth Big 12 team ranked. Arizona also moved up to No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25.
No. 17 Arizona will face SMU for the 46th Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. on Fox. Tickets for the Holiday Bowl can be purchased at ArizonaWildcats.com/HolidayBowl.
