Brent Brennan Fired Up for Arizona’s Holiday Bowl vs. SMU
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Before the start of the 2025-2026 season, many who followed Arizona football questioned the Wildcats' future in the Big 12 and asked whether head coach Brent Brennan was the right fit at the helm.
Now, Arizona has ended its season as the No. 17-ranked team in the nation, brought home the Territorial Cup, and is now gearing up to play the SMU Mustangs in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl, which is to be played at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, CA, on Jan 2nd at 6 p.m. (MST).
THE CATS ARE HOLIDAY BOWL BOUND!
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) December 7, 2025
We’ll see you in San Diego 😼 pic.twitter.com/bra9AbiEt7
It will be the third time the Wildcats have played in the Holiday Bowl. Arizona is currently 1-1 and has played Nebraska in both of them.
Playing the waiting game
Brennan and his team of relentless, physical competitors awaited the fate of their postseason destination, doing what any other squad would, passing the time with team-bonding activities until the time came when they found out it would be SMU that they would be playing in the Holiday Bowl.
"We had kind of all been together at the main event over there and everyone was bowling and hanging out and eating pizza and playing video games and just having a great time," Brennan said. "And then we were waiting and waiting and waiting, but when we found out where we were going, everybody was fired up. The team went crazy. So that part was pretty special."
A slight delay
Part of the reason Arizona had to wait for the announcement was Notre Dame's decision not to participate in any bowl games after the regular season.
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 7, 2025
The Fighting Irish were excluded from the College Football playoffs, leaving matchmakers to choose them to play Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. Once that fell through, SMU was selected for the match-up.
"I found out four hours ago," Brenna said. "So, that part of it, it's just been hectic. We've been working on schedule. We'll get to game plan tomorrow. But I think the the Notre Dame thing, for me, those players get to make those decisions, or those, that program gets to make those decisions. They had their reasons, and whatever they were, is what they were. But for us, it definitely caused a delay in us finding out."
Taking the Pony Express to San Diego
The Mustangs were chosen to represent the ACC in the Holiday Bowl following an 8-4 season that saw the offense finish in the top five and the defense just outside the top 10 in the conference.
In the final four games of the season, SMU went 3-1, including an upset victory over the Miami Hurricanes, who are now ranked No. 10 and will be competing in the playoffs. Last year, the Mustangs went 11-3, losing their last two games to Clemson 34-31 in the ACC championship and to Penn State 38-10 in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
"We're getting a great matchup with SMU," Brennan said. "We're getting the opportunity to play against another really good opponent from a part of the country that really respects football, where football is very important. They've done a great job there. They were a playoff team a year ago."
Brennan familiar with the Holiday Bowl
It will not be the first time that Brennan has been to the Holiday Bowl. In 1998, which was the first time Arizona played in a bowl game, his brother Brad Brennan was on the team that went 12-1 and took down the defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Brad Brennan caught a touchdown pass from Keith Smith, who was the offensive MVP of that game, on the way to a 23-20 victory. Back then, the game was played in Qualcomm Stadium, which hosted the San Diego Chargers.
"Obviously, Arizona had just a magical season up to that point," Brennan said. "Nebraska was a big time opponent, coming in there ranked. )Eric) Crouch was their quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner. And just at that time that was when Nebraska was rolling at a crazy level. So, just big time football game, and it was fun. Brad made a handful of catches in that game, scored a touchdown, had one called back. And so it was just really, really fun. It's a great memory for me. It's a great memory for my family."
Staying together
With so much going on in the NCAA with coaching changes and teams opting out of bowl games, Brennan highlighted the importance of staff sticking together for the betterment of the program.
Coordinators Seth Doege and Danny Gonzales were huge reasons why the Wildcats were as good as they were. For that, the second-year head coach advocated for them to stay with Arizona long term.
"I think leadership is so important," Brennan said. "It's obvious that the world of college football thinks it's important too. When you look what's happened over the last two or three weeks, I think keeping our staff together is the most important thing I can do right now, That's what we're working really hard at. I think we're making really good progress of getting coach Doege and coach Gonzalez here for a long time and I'm excited about that. They're tremendous coaches, tremendous human beings and we're making progress there."
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.