Arizona Wildcats to play SMU Mustangs in Holiday Bowl

The No. 17 Arizona Wildcats will play the SMU Mustangs in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Jan. 2, the bowl entity announced on Sunday.

The matchup will mark the two program’s third-ever meeting, as they previously met in 1938 and 1985.

The Wildcats earned the appearance thanks to a 9-3 record in Brent Brennan’s second season as head coach, winning their last five games — including a Territorial Cup win over ASU in Tempe — after starting the season 4-3.

Noah Fifita, whose 70 career touchdown passes are a program record, was named First Team All-Big 12 for his season of 2,963 passing yards (64.2% passing), 26 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Defensive backs Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson also received first-team honors, while wide receiver Kris Hutson, linebacker Taye Brown and defensive backs Jay’Vion Cole and Genesis Smith were named to the third team.

It’s the third appearance for Arizona in the Holiday Bowl and first since a 33-0 loss to Nebraska in 2009. The Wildcats previously beat Nebraska in the 1989 Holiday Bowl, 23-20.

Fifita was the Wildcats’ quarterback in the 2023 Alamo Bowl and led them to a 38-24 win over Oklahoma. That concluded a 10-3 season to end Jedd Fisch’s tenure, Arizona’s first 10-win season since 2014.

That was the only bowl appearance for Arizona since a 2017 Foster Farms Bowl loss to Purdue, 38-35, in Rich Rodriguez’s final year in Tucson.

The Wildcats are 10-11-1 all-time in bowl games.

TV, time in Holiday Bowl

The Holiday Bowl will be played at Snapdragon Stadium, the recently-opened (2022) home of the San Diego State Aztecs, on Jan. 2 with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. MST. It will be the first time the Holiday Bowl has been played in January, as opposed to December.

FOX will carry the TV broadcast, with Big Noon announcers Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt on the call.

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