BYU, Utah Utes football: Rivalry game unlikely to determine bowl destinations

SALT LAKE CITY — Over the years, the annual Utah-BYU game has rarely determined league championships, but has often determined where each team spends its holidays playing in a bowl game.

For instance last year, the winner of the annual grudge match was likely headed to the Las Vegas Bowl with the loser going to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. That's exactly what happened after the Cougars took a 26-23 victory in overtime.

The year before, the Utes needed to win their game against the Cougars in Salt Lake City to get a BCS bowl invitation, which they did and headed to the Sugar Bowl six weeks later, while the Cougars settled for the Las Vegas Bowl.

This year, there might not be as much intrigue as to which bowl game each team may be headed. Most officials of leagues and universities don't want to be quoted about bowl possibilities because of the fear of offending other teams or bowls, but a few things appear pretty clear.

If TCU gets a BCS bowl bid, Utah is likely to be invited to the Las Vegas Bowl, regardless of Saturday's outcome. With a win, the Utes are a shoo-in at 10-2, second place in the league and a probable top-20 ranking. With a loss, the Utes are 9-3, but still tied for second and two games better than BYU's 7-5 mark.

BYU appears to be a good candidate for either the Armed Forces Bowl, which will be played in Dallas instead of Fort Worth this year, or the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque with an outside shot at the Las Vegas Bowl.

The other two Mountain West Conference-affiliated bowls appear to be pretty set, with San Diego State being coveted by the hometown Poinsettia Bowl, and the Independence Bowl wanting Air Force because Barksdale Air Force Base lies on the outskirts of Shreveport, La.

Tina Kunzer-Murphy, the executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl, said her bowl is looking at four MWC teams and a host of other schools for the other berth.

"We're closely watching to see if TCU gets a BCS berth and will obviously look at a 9-2 Utah team and 8-4 Air Force, which has finished its season," she said. "And BYU has played its way into the bowl picture by winning four straight. They've been great for our bowl and we've had a great relationship with them."

Kunzer-Murphy acknowledged that her bowl is not looking at San Diego State because it is most likely going to want to play at its hometown bowl.