2026 Holiday Bowl
| 2026 Trust & Will Holiday Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46th Holiday Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 2, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Snapdragon Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | San Diego, California, US | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Offensive: Yamir Knight (WR, SMU) Defensive: Ahmaad Moses (S, SMU)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Arizona by 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Steve Marlowe (SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 30,602 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | FOX | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst), and Jenny Taft (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.39 Million[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2026, at Snapdragon Stadium located in San Diego, California.[3] The 46th annual Holiday Bowl began at approximately 5:00 p.m. PST and aired on Fox. This was the first Holiday Bowl scheduled to be played in January.[4] It was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. Sponsored by online estate planning company Trust & Will, the game was officially known as the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl.
The SMU Mustangs from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) defeated the Arizona Wildcats from the Big 12 Conference, 24–19.[5]
Teams
The game featured Arizona from the Big 12 Conference and SMU from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).[6] The teams had met twice previously, with SMU winning in 1938 and Arizona winning in 1985.[7] Many fans jokingly referred to this game as the "Adia Barnes Bowl", as Adia Barnes played basketball at the University of Arizona and was head coach of the Wildcats women's basketball team from 2016 to 2025 before departing to take the vacant head coaching position at SMU.
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona opened their season with three consecutive wins, then lost three of their next four games. With a 4–3 record at the end of October, the Wildcats finished their schedule with five wins during November.[8] Arizona faced four ranked teams, losing to Iowa State and BYU and defeating Cincinnati and Arizona State. The Wildcats entered the Holiday Bowl with a 9–3 record and ranked 21st in the AP poll.
SMU Mustangs
SMU lost two of their first four games, then won six of their next seven.[9] Ranked 21st entering their final regular-season game, SMU lost at Cal by three points.[10] SMU entered the Holiday Bowl unranked and with an 8–4 record.
Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 17 Arizona | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| SMU | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
at Snapdragon Stadium • San Diego, California
- Date: Friday, January 2, 2026
- Game time: 5:00 p.m. PST
- Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 63 °F (17 °C) • Wind: 6 mph (9.7 km/h) south
- Game attendance: 30,602
- Referee: Steve Marlowe
- TV announcers (Fox): Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst), and Jenny Taft (sideline)
- Box score
Statistics
| Statistics | ARIZ | SMU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 26 | 18 |
| Plays–yards | – | – |
| Rushes–yards | – | – |
| Passing yards | ||
| Passing: comp–att–int | –– | –– |
| Time of possession |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Passing | ||
| Rushing | |||
| Receiving | |||
| SMU | Passing | ||
| Rushing | |||
| Receiving |
References
- ^ Spears, Justin (January 3, 2026). "Shorthanded Arizona Wildcats fall to SMU in Holiday Bowl". tucson.com. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- ^ http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2026/01/friday-tv-ratings-1226-rupauls-drag.html
- ^ "2025-26 College Football Playoff, bowl schedule". ESPN.com. August 11, 2025.
- ^ "46th Annual Holiday Bowl Set For January 2, 2026, at Snapdragon Stadium". holidaybowl.com. August 28, 2025.
- ^ Spears, Justin (January 3, 2026). "Shorthanded Arizona Wildcats Fall to SMU in Holiday Bowl". tucson.com. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- ^ Spears, Justin (December 7, 2025). "Arizona Wildcats to Play SMU Mustangs in the Holiday Bowl". Tucson.com. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
- ^ "Arizona vs. SMU football series history games list". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ^ "Arizona Wildcats". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ^ "SMU Mustangs". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ^ Helwick, Steve (December 1, 2025). "Cal ends SMU's ACC title/CFP dreams in 38-35 upset". underdogdynasty.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
External links
- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com