Arizona, SMU coaches hopeful lineups will be largely intact for Holiday Bowl

Among the concerns in the rapidly evolving landscape of college football is players opting out of postseason bowl games.

The Trust & Will Holiday Bowl has been among the bowls impacted, with more than two dozen players on some of the teams choosing not to play the past three years.

Arizona coach Brent Brennan and SMU coach Rhett Lashlee are hopeful their lineups will be largely intact when the 17th-ranked Wildcats (9-3) and Mustangs (8-4) meet Jan. 2 in the Holiday Bowl at Snapdragon Stadium. Helping, perhaps, is that the NCAA transfer portal has been pushed back a month from last year.

The portal opens — how about this? — on Jan. 2.

“I don’t know what that’s going to look like for us yet,” said Brennan, in town Tuesday with Lashlee for a Holiday Bowl event at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. “I’m sure Coach Lashlee would like to know, but, honestly, where we are in college football right now, I think all those decisions are personal and family decisions.

“I do think we have a really healthy culture. Our team in Arizona has been on an incredible journey this year. The vibe for this football team, the way they show up for each other, the way they compete has reallly been a lot of fun. I think that is something that is holding us together. How it plays out over the next couple of weeks, I’m not sure, but I do think our guys are excited for this bowl game.”

Arizona fans bought out the Wildcats’ ticket allotment within two days of the bowl announcement, helping push the Holiday Bowl within 5,000 tickets of a sellout for the 46th annual game.

“We haven’t had an issue with opt-outs yet … I don’t expect that,” Lashlee said. “I think, similar to Arizona’s reason, they’ve won, the culture’s good.

“We have a couple of guys that are banged up from the end of the year that we’re hoping will be available. … By and large, our guys are excited. We had our team banquet Sunday. We honored 29 seniors, and all those guys are really excited to play one last game for SMU. A lot of our younger guys are excited to get to play again.”

It would be a welcome respite from the postseason upheaval of recent seasons.

The Holiday Bowl was fortunate that Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, the two players who made for a marquee matchup, chose to play in the 2022 game.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams was among those who opted out in 2023, hurting the game’s attendance. The fans who opted out missed Trojans backup quarterback Miller Moss throwing a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdown passes against Louisville.

Last year’s matchup between Syracuse and Washington State had the added twist — and turmoil — of Cougars coach Jake Dickert leaving for Wake Forest 10 days before the bowl game.

“Every year is different,” said Lashlee, who guided the Mustangs to the College Football Playoff last season. “Every bowl is different. This is an incredible bowl, so our guys are excited to play. They’re playing a top-20 team in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. They get to go home for Christmas, but still play in a great bowl game.

“A lot of those things lined up. I know, for us, our guys are just excited to play.”

Trust & Will Holiday Bowl: Arizona (9-3) vs. SMU (8-4)

When: Jan. 2, 5 p.m.

Where: Snapdragon Stadium

TV: Fox