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The Holiday Bowl will be held at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Friday, Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. The combined payout is $5.9 million. 

A Holiday Bowl representative attended the Wildcats' Territorial Cup win over rival Arizona State in Tempe last week and was seen talking to Arizona head coach Brent Brennan and other UA staffers in the hallways of Mountain America Stadium.

The Holiday Bowl rep hinted to the media corps in the postgame press conference that the winner of the Territorial Cup would receive an invitation to the bowl game as a Pac-12 representative. The Wildcats are still affiliated with the Pac-12 for this bowl cycle. 

Mark Neville, CEO of Sports San Diego, which organizes the Holiday Bowl, said, “As we approach Selection Sunday, we’re in a really good spot on both sides."

“From the former Pac-12 teams, we’re going to get a solid team from that conference," he said. "On the ACC side, we’re likely getting an eight-, nine- or 10-win opponent for the Pac-12 team. San Diego’s going to get a great matchup.�

If Duke upsets 17th-ranked Virginia in the ACC championship on Saturday, it's conceivable the Cavaliers could play in the Holiday Bowl. Georgia Tech could also be a Holiday Bowl team, if Virginia loses and opts to play in the Pop Tarts Bowl. 

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. 

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's head coach, 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 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. 

Arizona's potential opponent in SMU (8-4) is in its fourth season under head coach Rhett Lashlee, who is 37-16 since taking over in 2022. The Mustangs lost in the first round of the College Football Playoff last season. SMU is in its second season in the ACC.

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. 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 has played SMU 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. 

No. 18 Arizona ended its regular season on a five-game winning streak and a 9-3 overall record and now awaits its postseason fate, which will be announced on Sunday at 10 a.m. on ESPN.