BYU football: Cougs likely to play ASU-Arizona winner

PROVO — Barring a monumental upset of UCLA over No. 5 USC today, BYU is expected to play the winner of tonight's Arizona-Arizona State game in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 20.

While the Cougars have not been formally invited to play in the Las Vegas Bowl, multiple sources say the bowl committee has chosen BYU to play in that game for the fourth straight season. The Las Vegas Bowl has the first pick of available Mountain West Conference teams.

No. 11 TCU beat BYU in the regular season and finished No. 2 in the MWC, but the Cougars have sold out the Las Vegas Bowl the past three seasons. The Horned Frogs could play No. 9 Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl.

The Las Vegas Bowl has the No. 4 pick of Pac-10 teams, but it has agreed to allow the San Francisco-based Emerald Bowl to select fourth-place Cal, which is located in Berkeley.

Arizona State needs a victory tonight to become bowl-eligible. If ASU wins, Arizona could go to the Hawaii Bowl.

E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com