Kevin Jennings leads SMU football to a Holiday Bowl win over Arizona football as the Mustangs celebrate and their QB praises his teammates.

SMU football overcame expectations and late pressure from Arizona to secure a 24-19 Holiday Bowl victory, anchored by disciplined defense and controlled offense.

SMU assistant running backs coach Tyler Foster is reportedly following former Mustangs offensive coordinator Casey Woods to Missouri State. Foster is expected to be the Bears’ new running backs coach, according to a report from CBS Sports ’ Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz.

Ahead of the Holiday Bowl, Arizona football coordinators shared their assessment of the SMU Mustangs. Here's what they had to say.

Holiday Bowl odds, picks, predictions, TV channel, streaming for Arizona Wildcats vs. SMU Mustangs college football bowl game on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.

The Arizona Wildcats (9-3) and SMU Mustangs (8-4) tussle in Friday's Holiday Bowl in San Diego, California. Kickoff at Snapdragon Stadium is at 8 p.m. ET (FOX). Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's NCAA football odds around the Arizona vs. SMU odds and make our expert college football picks and predictions for the best bets.

The Armed Forces Bowl between Rice and Texas State experienced a scary scene before kickoff on Friday. The Wolverines didn't even have their best stuff offensively, but they still flirted with another 100-point outing. Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones do a deep dive on the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Jaylen Brown.

The No. 17 Arizona Wildcats football program loses to the SMU Mustangs by a score of 24-19 on Jan. 2, 2026, in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

Lots of excitement is building up as Arizona Football is set to go head-to-head against Southern Methodist University in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl. In

The Mustangs aren’t world-beaters — the Tigers, despite being the unranked team in the matchup, were actually favored by 3.5 points. But SMU was coming off an impressive upset of UNC and was Clemson’s toughest league game to date.

The Mustangs will lose a lot of key contributors from 2025’s team and have some work to do in the transfer portal.