Bowl Matchups

We are bowl eligible and likely headed back to the Las Vegas Bowl. I'm not sure how the Hawaii bowl and LV Bowl hash that out, but I'll bet the LV Bowl is fighting to get BYU back, especially with their alternative MWC teams losing a lot of their luster. The Pac12 sixth place team would be our opponent. It's too early to determine who that will be, but their is still a small chance Utah drops enough to get the invite. It's is unlikely they will lose to OSU, Wasington or Colorado which gives them 6 wins in the Pac. They could still lose to UCLA and Arizona on the road, though less likely. This would put them at 6-3 in the pac. There are potentially 7-8 teams that could go on a streak and get ahead of Utah in the standings. Only problem is they play each other and will knock each other out of contention. It will still be likely to only drop Utah to 4-5th place. Also would need Stanford to drop another one or lose the pac12 championship game to keep them out of NC playoff contention and take up the Rose Bowl spot.



Overall a pretty slim possibility, but still possible to have a matchup with Utah in the LV Bowl - would love the matchup and think we would have a decent shot to win.



Any other thoughts or thoughts on otherpossible match ups?

If I am not mistaken, after the rose bowl, the bowls get to pick who they want. Utah could drop to 6th even though they did not finish there. ESPN owns both bowls so they will choose where we go based on matchups. It very possibly could happen.

scott715 wrote:
If I am not mistaken, after the rose bowl, the bowls get to pick who they want. Utah could drop to 6th even though they did not finish there. ESPN owns both bowls so they will choose where we go based on matchups. It very possibly could happen.

If ESPN can choose the matchups, there isn't really a Better possible matchup for the Las Vegas bowl in terms of excitement and potential viewership. There aren't two other teams from the PAC and MWC with the glitz of this matchup. At could all change if someone else gets hot from the PAc though.



If this matchup happened and we beat them, it would sure be a nice way to quiet down the Utah Bandwagon. Church was extra pleasant today, no gloating Utes.

BYULV wrote:
Church was extra pleasant today, no gloating Utes.

What??? Weren't the ALUFs weren't aloof today? How the Mitey have fallen.

If the LV bowl can get BYU-Utah it's a no-brainer. I see some potential problems though.



The AAC could have three teams at anywhere from 13-0 to 11-1. Is a Hawaii bowl matchup between BYU (at 10-2 or 9-3) and one of Temple/Houston/Memphis (at 12-1 or 11-1) better than BYU Oregon/Cal/ASU (at 7-5 or 6-6)?



Also the best team from the MW will likely be 11-2 or 10-3. Will the LV bowl have as good a choice of MW teams in 2017. There's a good chance the MW champ will be in a NY6 and the second MW choice will be 8-5 or 9-4 going into the bowl game. Of course BYU is likely to be 7-5 or 8-4 in 2017.

I'm planning on going to the BYU bowl game if it's the Las Vegas Bowl. However, I won't go if it's a BYU-Utah matchup. I just hate being around Utes and would hate to have my experience ruined by a bunch of douchebags.

One thing to keep an eye on is whether or not New Mexico (4-4) or Hawaii (2-6) become bowl eligible. New Mexico, Hawaii, and BYU are all participating in the men's basketball Diamond Head Tournament in Hawaii on December 22, 23, and 25. The Hawaii bowl is December 24.



Any of those 3 teams could be candidates to hopefully get fans who travel for one event to show up for both events since they are already there as both events are ESPN properties.



Hawaii is a long shot to be bowl eligible with 5 chances to win 4 more games: vs. Air Force, @ UNLV, vs. Fresno State, vs. San Jose State, vs. ULM



New Mexico has 4 chances to win 2: vs. Utah State, @ Boise State, vs. Colorado State, vs. Air Force

I forgot there is a chance BYU could get Navy at 10-2 or 11-2. I think BYU would jump all over that.

For us Utah residents, the prospect of a Utah game for the bowl game and playing them the second game of next season is a double-edged sword. We win, we get to talk about it all off season until the rematch. We lose, we have to hear about it all off season until the rematch...



I think I like our chances enough to take those odds. Assuming no further injuries to the D-line, USC gave us the perfect blueprint to beat them: stuff Booker, contain and pressure Wilson, and feast on interceptions. On offense, take care of the ball and take what they give you, and you'll likely score enough points to win.

The Pac-12 still has a defined selection order:



1. Playoff

2. Rose

3. Alamo

4. Holiday

5. Foster Farms (Fight Hunger in San Fran)

6. Sun

7. Vegas

8. Cactus



If ND beats Stanford pretty good chance the bowls end up like this:



Playoff- Nobody

Rose- Stanford

Alamo- Utes

Holiday- Winner of USC/UCLA game

Foster Farms- Loser of the USC/UCLA game

Sun- Oregon

Vegas- Cal

Cactus- Arizona St.



If Stanford makes the playoff, move everybody up one. The Cactus bowl would get Washington St.

jvquarterback wrote:
I forgot there is a chance BYU could get Navy at 10-2 or 11-2. I think BYU would jump all over that.

Unfortunately, Navy actually has its own contract with the Military Bowl (in its home stadium) against the ACC this year. BYU has no chance to play Navy in a bowl unless some post-season wheeling and dealing is done.

jvquarterback wrote:
If the LV bowl can get BYU-Utah it's a no-brainer. I see some potential problems though.



The AAC could have three teams at anywhere from 13-0 to 11-1. Is a Hawaii bowl matchup between BYU (at 10-2 or 9-3) and one of Temple/Houston/Memphis (at 12-1 or 11-1) better than BYU Oregon/Cal/ASU (at 7-5 or 6-6)?



Also the best team from the MW will likely be 11-2 or 10-3. Will the LV bowl have as good a choice of MW teams in 2017. There's a good chance the MW champ will be in a NY6 and the second MW choice will be 8-5 or 9-4 going into the bowl game. Of course BYU is likely to be 7-5 or 8-4 in 2017.

There is no way the MW champ will go to a NY 6 bowl unless the AAC completely implodes. If Houston, Memphis or Temple remain undefeated or even one loss, they will still be the highest ranked G5 school making them the pick. Personally I am rooting for either Houston or Temple. I would never want Memphis to make it because they are a bunch of douches!

mormonrasta wrote:
The Pac-12 still has a defined selection order:



1. Playoff

2. Rose

3. Alamo

4. Holiday

5. Foster Farms (Fight Hunger in San Fran)

6. Sun

7. Vegas

8. Cactus



If ND beats Stanford pretty good chance the bowls end up like this:



Playoff- Nobody

Rose- Stanford

Alamo- Utes

Holiday- Winner of USC/UCLA game

Foster Farms- Loser of the USC/UCLA game

Sun- Oregon

Vegas- Cal

Cactus- Arizona St.



If Stanford makes the playoff, move everybody up one. The Cactus bowl would get Washington St.

I believe it is a true SELECTION order - not necessarily based on conference standings. And, I believe ESPN owns all the bowls.



So, if ESPN wants Utah-BYU in Las Vegas, they could make it happen. (especially when the Ewetes' ranking plummets further after they lose to UCLA and Arizona). It wouldn't surprise to see USC, UCLA or even Washington St. in the Alamo bowl and Cal in the Foster Farms bowl, making room for the Utes in Las Vegas against BYU.

blue42 wrote:
There is no way the MW champ will go to a NY 6 bowl unless the AAC completely implodes. If Houston, Memphis or Temple remain undefeated or even one loss, they will still be the highest ranked G5 school making them the pick. Personally I am rooting for either Houston or Temple. I would never want Memphis to make it because they are a bunch of douches!

And, if the AAC falters, don't count out Toledo or even Bowling Green (also from the MAC) - or Western Kentucky or Marshall from CUSA getting into the NY6 ahead of the MWC champ.

YNot wrote:

The Pac-12 still has a defined selection order:



1. Playoff

2. Rose

3. Alamo

4. Holiday

5. Foster Farms (Fight Hunger in San Fran)

6. Sun

7. Vegas

8. Cactus



If ND beats Stanford pretty good chance the bowls end up like this:



Playoff- Nobody

Rose- Stanford

Alamo- Utes

Holiday- Winner of USC/UCLA game

Foster Farms- Loser of the USC/UCLA game

Sun- Oregon

Vegas- Cal

Cactus- Arizona St.



If Stanford makes the playoff, move everybody up one. The Cactus bowl would get Washington St.

I believe it is a true SELECTION order - not necessarily based on conference standings. And, I believe ESPN owns all the bowls.



So, if ESPN wants Utah-BYU in Las Vegas, they could make it happen. (especially when the Ewetes' ranking plummets further after they lose to UCLA and Arizona). It wouldn't surprise to see USC, UCLA or even Washington St. in the Alamo bowl and Cal in the Foster Farms bowl, making room for the Utes in Las Vegas against BYU.

Yes, it is a selection order, but a large part of that order is driven by the standings. There is no way a 3 loss Utah team goes to Vegas this year. Bowls and teams do not like to go to the same game two years in a row. Also, Vegas gets the 6th or 7th pick depending on the playoff. There is no way 5 or 6 teams get picked ahead of Utah this year.



Vegas is the only bowl that ESPN owns that is affiliated with the Pac-12. They won't have much influence in the Pac 12 bowl selection.

blue42 wrote:

If the LV bowl can get BYU-Utah it's a no-brainer. I see some potential problems though.



The AAC could have three teams at anywhere from 13-0 to 11-1. Is a Hawaii bowl matchup between BYU (at 10-2 or 9-3) and one of Temple/Houston/Memphis (at 12-1 or 11-1) better than BYU Oregon/Cal/ASU (at 7-5 or 6-6)?



Also the best team from the MW will likely be 11-2 or 10-3. Will the LV bowl have as good a choice of MW teams in 2017. There's a good chance the MW champ will be in a NY6 and the second MW choice will be 8-5 or 9-4 going into the bowl game. Of course BYU is likely to be 7-5 or 8-4 in 2017.

There is no way the MW champ will go to a NY 6 bowl unless the AAC completely implodes. If Houston, Memphis or Temple remain undefeated or even one loss, they will still be the highest ranked G5 school making them the pick. Personally I am rooting for either Houston or Temple. I would never want Memphis to make it because they are a bunch of douches!

I was referencing the choice in 2017. If the LV bowl takes the MW conf champ this year they get BYU in 2017. In 2017 the MW champ could be in the NY6 so if they pick BYU now they'd be stuck with a MW runner up. It's a tough call but I think the ESPN goes for a 10-2 vs 11-1 AAC opponent in the Hawaii bowl unless Utah is available for LV which happens if they lose 2-3 more before the conference championship game.

jvquarterback wrote:

jvquarterback wrote:
If the LV bowl can get BYU-Utah it's a no-brainer. I see some potential problems though.



The AAC could have three teams at anywhere from 13-0 to 11-1. Is a Hawaii bowl matchup between BYU (at 10-2 or 9-3) and one of Temple/Houston/Memphis (at 12-1 or 11-1) better than BYU Oregon/Cal/ASU (at 7-5 or 6-6)?



Also the best team from the MW will likely be 11-2 or 10-3. Will the LV bowl have as good a choice of MW teams in 2017. There's a good chance the MW champ will be in a NY6 and the second MW choice will be 8-5 or 9-4 going into the bowl game. Of course BYU is likely to be 7-5 or 8-4 in 2017.

There is no way the MW champ will go to a NY 6 bowl unless the AAC completely implodes. If Houston, Memphis or Temple remain undefeated or even one loss, they will still be the highest ranked G5 school making them the pick. Personally I am rooting for either Houston or Temple. I would never want Memphis to make it because they are a bunch of douches!

I was referencing the choice in 2017. If the LV bowl takes the MW conf champ this year they get BYU in 2017. In 2017 the MW champ could be in the NY6 so if they pick BYU now they'd be stuck with a MW runner up. It's a tough call but I think the ESPN goes for a 10-2 vs 11-1 AAC opponent in the Hawaii bowl unless Utah is available for LV which happens if they lose 2-3 more before the conference championship game.

Now it gets interesting as Utah sits tied three ways for 4th place with USC and UCLA. Even if they beat Colorado, the best they will be is 5th Place due to their loss to both LA teams. USC or UCLA are guaranteed to Lise as they play each other so Utah will be 5th with a win, tied for 6th with a loss, but again UCLA and USC beat Utah putting the Utes at 7th. They could very easily end up in the LV Bowl. The bowl and ESPN would kill for a rivalry matchup like that in a bowl game.

Likely Pac-12 final standings, assuming the team with the better record wins:



1. Stanford 8-1 (OOC vs ND 10-1)



2. Washington State 7-2 (W @ Washington 3-6, owns tiebreaker over Oregon)

3. Oregon 7-2 (W vs Oregon State 0-9, owns tiebreaker over USC, but didn't play UCLA)



4. USC/UCLA 6-3 (W vs USC/UCLA 5-4 owns tiebreaker over Utah)

5. Utah 6-3 (W vs. Colorado 1-8, owns tiebreaker over ASU, Oregon)

6. UCLA/USC 5-4 (L vs UCLA/USC 6-3, owns tiebreaker over Utah)



7. Arizona State 5-4 (W @ California 3-6)

8. California 3-6 (L vs Arizona State 4-5)



9. Washington 3-6 (L vs Washington State 7-2)

10. Arizona 3-6 (BYE)

11. Colorado 1-8 (L @ Utah 6-3)

12. Oregon State 0-9 (L @ Oregon 7-2)



If Utah loses, and everything else stays the same, they will drop below the loser of USC/UCLA but stay above ASU at 5-4, which places them 6th. If Utah wins and Oregon loses, it gets extraordinarily messy, because if you try to apply the divisional tie-breakers across divisions, you wind up with weird scenarios where Utah wins tiebreakers over USC but USC is going to the title game, etc.



So, with the selection order like this:

1. Playoff

2. Rose

3. Alamo

4. Holiday

5. Foster Farms (Fight Hunger in San Fran)

6. Sun

7. Vegas

8. Cactus



I would guess it goes something like this (again, assuming favorites win):

1. Playoff: nobody (too much chaos required to get Stanford in, won't happen)

2. Rose: Stanford

3. Alamo: WSU/Oregon

4. Holiday: Oregon/WSU

5. Foster Farms: USC/UCLA winner

6. Sun: Utah

7. Vegas: USC/UCLA loser

8. Cactus: ASU



Of course, all we would need is for the Sun bowl to want USC/UCLA more than Utah, and Utah is in Vegas, even with a W against CO. When my choice is Utah vs. national brands like USC and UCLA, I'd take USC/UCLA, because I need ticket sales, butts in seats, and ratings.



I would suspect Hawaii and Vegas would want us, and we'd take Vegas, which pays out $1.35 M compared to $650 K. Vegas is probably praying to every idol god they can find for that matchup, because they would sell out and have fantastic ratings - one of the fiercest rivalries in the country in a bowl game? It's ratings gold in what would normally be the part of bowl season that nobody cares about or watches.



To me, BYU vs. Utah in Vegas is becoming more and more likely.

Does anyone know how Las Vegas and Hawaii decide? Do they Rochambeau to see who gets to pick? My guess is both bowls would want BYU because of the fan draw, but how do they determine it?