Bowl Projection Thread

[SeattleUte]

I want Boise. I'm not a wus. Kyle can win that game. How could we not want to play a top 10 team in our bowl? That's what it's all about. Utah would have all the psych advantage. It'd be like little Sugar Bowl.

[Uncle Ted]

I want Boise. I'm not a wus. Kyle can win that game. How could we not want to play a top 10 team in our bowl? That's what it's all about. Utah would have all the psych advantage. It'd be like little Sugar Bowl.

Yes, that would be a better match up for the Utes than some middle of the road PAC team. Of course, for this happen Louisiana Tech just has to beat Nevada on Saturday so the WAC can fill all of its bowl commitments.

[BlueHair]

I want Boise. I'm not a wus. Kyle can win that game. How could we not want to play a top 10 team in our bowl? That's what it's all about. Utah would have all the psych advantage. It'd be like little Sugar Bowl.

Boise would beat Utah by a minimum of 28, probably more. This is not a knock against Utah. Boise is really good.

[MarkGrace]

Provo • The schedule-maker didn’t send independence-bound BYU to Albuquerque, N.M., on its final tour of the Mountain West Conference football circuit this season, but it appears the 6-6 Cougars will head to the Land of Enchantment one last time, anyway.

There are strong indications that BYU will be invited to play in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 18 — the first of 35 bowl games — against a Western Athletic Conference team, most likely Fresno State or Nevada.

However, Jeff Siembieda, executive director of the ESPN-owned New Mexico Bowl, said Sunday that nothing will be certain until after the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) games are announced on Dec. 5, and teams are cleared from BCS consideration.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Siembieda said. “But if BYU was available, it would be very, very attractive to us.”

Boise State’s loss and TCU’s win over the weekend, coupled with BYU’s 17-16 loss to Utah, cleared the postseason picture for the Cougars considerably.

“It is another opportunity to play, so I am excited,” BYU safety Andrew Rich said of the team’s bowl possibilities. “We have to put this one [behind] us and try to win the bowl game. … You want to end your career on the right note, so we are going to work our butts off for it.”

The clues point to New Mexico for BYU.

Why?

Of the bowl-eligible MWC teams available after the BCS takes No. 3 TCU, Utah is expected to be taken by the Las Vegas Bowl. The Poinsettia Bowl will then take hometown San Diego State (8-4) with the second pick, and the Independence Bowl will take Air Force (8-4) with the third pick. The Falcons, Aztecs and Cougars tied for third with 5-3 league marks.

The Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas and the New Mexico Bowl get the fourth/fifth picks in the MWC selection process, although they work together in conjunction with ESPN to decide the particular order each year, Siembieda said.

However, the Armed Forces Bowl has given strong indications that it wants Army, an independent, to pair against one of Conference USA’s six bowl-eligible teams. That would leave the New Mexico Bowl with the final bowl-eligible MWC team, BYU.

Army’s executive associate athletic director Bob Beretta said as much Saturday night, telling reporters, “It looks pretty certain Army is going to the Armed Forces Bowl” after exchanging text messages with AFB executive director Brant Ringler.

Regarding a possible opponent for the Cougars in New Mexico, that likely won’t be decided until the WAC’s last round of games this coming weekend, but Siembieda acknowledges, “I would think right now we are in line for a WAC team.”

The WAC has four bowl commitments. Hawaii has accepted a bid to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. Boise State, Nevada and Fresno State are already bowl eligible, but if Louisiana Tech (5-6) beats Nevada on Saturday, it would be bowl eligible, too, and that could create a way for Boise State to go to a non-WAC affiliated bowl (such as the Las Vegas Bowl).

If that happens, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco would be expected to take Nevada with the “first” selection, leaving the second-picking New Mexico Bowl to take Fresno State.

Fresno State has been to the New Mexico Bowl two straight years, playing Colorado State in 2008 and Wyoming in 2009. BYU played Nevada on Sept. 25 in Provo, losing 27-13 in freshman quarterback Jake Heaps’ first start.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars...state.html.csp

[SeattleUte]

If Utah doesn't play Boise or Nevada that's a sure sign the system is messed up. That would be a natural. The other scenarios involving those teams are ludicrous. The pac 10 isn't even able to field a team in the LV bowl, for pete's sake.

[SeattleUte]

Boise would beat Utah by a minimum of 28, probably more. This is not a knock against Utah. Boise is really good.

I don't care what you think. I want to see the game.

[MarkGrace]

Looks like most of the projections coming out are saying BYU vs. Fresno St in the New Mexico bowl.

[Uncle Ted]

Looks like most of the projections coming out are saying BYU vs. Fresno St in the New Mexico bowl.

Yes, Army got their invite to the Armed Forces Bowl today. I am guessing they will try yo get SMU to play them.

[BlueHair]

I don't care what you think. I want to see the game.

I do too.

[TripletDaddy]

BYU playing in the very first bowl game of the season. Boise playing a few hours later on the same opening day. Wow, one loss really costs you when you are playing in the WAC.

I saw that there is a bowl called the Brady 'o Grady bowl, or some similar sounding Irish name. Every season there is a new silly sounding bowl and I think this may be the winner this year.

[YOhio]

BYU playing in the very first bowl game of the season. Boise playing a few hours later on the same opening day. Wow, one loss really costs you when you are playing in the WAC.

I saw that there is a bowl called the Brady 'o Grady bowl, or some similar sounding Irish name. Every season there is a new silly sounding bowl and I think this may be the winner this year.

Beef O' Brady's. Just think of a bad Irish Pub, franchise it and there you have Beef O'Brady's.

[Mormon Red Death]

Espn owns the bowls they are broadcasting?

ESPN, which owns the New Mexico Bowl and Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, has the ability to shift the WAC’s fourth bowl slot from New Mexico to Las Vegas. That would create a Top 25 matchup between Boise State and No. 21 Utah. The Maaco Bowl is Dec. 22.

[Sizzle]

Espn owns the bowls they are broadcasting?

Which is one more reason it isn't bad to be partnered with ESPN in College Football. Or College Sports in general.