The matchup for the 45th annual DirecTV Holiday Bowl will be officially announced Sunday morning, although the picture could be pretty clear after Saturday’s conference championship games in the ACC and Big 12.

A top-25 matchup pitting No. 15 Arizona State and No. 17 Clemson is probably the best scenario for the Holiday Bowl, which will debut at the 32,500-seat Snapdragon Stadium on Dec. 27 (5 p.m., Fox).

A team from the ACC and a current or former Pac-12 member will meet in the game. They will share a $5.87 million payout.

The KGB SkyShow will follow the bowl game for the third straight year.

Pecking order

After the 12 CFP slots are filled, the Holiday Bowl gets the second pick after the Alamo Bowl among current and former members of the Pac-12.

In the ACC, the Holiday Bowl, Gator Bowl and Pop-Tarts Bowl all submit their top three choices. If all three bowls select different schools as their top pick, then they get that team. If there is overlap, then the conference and bowls work things out.

ACC outlook

The CFP rankings include five ACC teams. No. 4 Notre Dame (9-1), which is aligned with the conference for bowl purposes, is among them. The others are No. 8 SMU (11-1), No. 12 Miami (10-2), No. 17 Clemson (9-3) and No. 22 Syracuse (9-3).

Notre Dame is positioned to make the expanded 12-team playoff, along with the winner of the ACC championship game between SMU and Clemson.

At No. 12, Miami actually is just outside the playoff the because the winner of the Big 12 championship game between No. 15 Arizona State and No. 18 Iowa State will receive an automatic berth and nudge the Hurricanes down a spot.

If SMU wins the ACC title, then the Pop-Tarts Bowl is expected to take Miami and the Holiday Bowl gets Clemson. The Tigers are not an option for the Gator Bowl because they played there last year.

If Clemson wins, the Tigers go to the playoff and create uncertainty for SMU, which would need an at-large berth to the playoff.

If the Mustangs still make the playoff, then the Pop-Tarts Bowl takes Miami. The Holiday Bowl would probably choose Syracuse in that scenario, though Duke (9-3) also would be an option.

If the Mustangs are not part of the playoff field, then the Pop-Tarts Bowl would take either SMU or Miami and the Holiday Bowl would take the team not selected.

Pac-12 outlook

Things are shaping up more simply on this side of the matchup.

The teams in the Holiday Bowl’s sights are No. 16 Arizona State, No. 23 Colorado (9-3) and Washington State (8-4).

The Alamo Bowl is expected to take Colorado regardless of what happens in the Big 12 championship game between Arizona State and Iowa State.

If Iowa State wins the Big 12 title, then the Cyclones go to the playoff and the Holiday Bowl gets Arizona State.

If ASU beats Iowa State, then the Sun Devils go to the playoff and the Holiday Bowl would get Pac-12 holdover Washington State, which visited Snapdragon Stadium in October for a 29-26 win over San Diego State.

Saturday’s conference championship games

Big 12: No. 18 Iowa State (10-2) vs. No. 16 Arizona State (10-2), 9 a.m. (ABC)

ACC: No. 17 Clemson (9-3) vs. No. 8 SMU (11-1), 5 p.m. (ABC)

MAC: Ohio (9-3) vs. Miami, Ohio (8-4), 9 a.m. (ESPN)

SEC: No. 5 Georgia (10-2) vs. No. 2 Texas (11-1), 1 p.m. (ABC)

Sun Belt: Marshall (9-3) at Louisiana (10-2), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Big Ten: No. 3 Penn State (11-1) vs. No. 1 Oregon (12-0), 5 p.m. (CBS)