"People were going, 'It's the Holiday Bowl. What kind of game is that?'" Holmoe explained. "But our team, and our fans, helped establish the Holiday Bowl. I really believe we can actually help start a great tradition down there. It's up to us, football-wise, to get in and make it special. ...

"The WAC started the Fiesta Bowl and the Holiday Bowl. Those are two great bowls right now. The Mountain West is really starting the Las Vegas Bowl by having the champ there. I don't think there's any question that the champion of the Mountain West is going to be a fine team year-in and year-out. We'll establish a great strength down there in Las Vegas. This is the time for our fans to get used to coming back."

Cougar boosters have responded overwhelmingly (and it helps that Las Vegas is not far from Provo and has a strong LDS population), selling out Sam Boyd Stadium in each of the past three seasons. In 2006 and '07, BYU went to the Las Vegas Bowl as the conference champions and won both games, drubbing Oregon, 38-8, and nipping UCLA, 17-16.

Both victories capped 11-2 seasons. This year, though, while BYU needs a victory for a third straight 11-2 finish, the circumstances are much different. MWC champion Utah is headed to the Bowl Championship Series. With the first pick of MWC teams, the Las Vegas Bowl is expected to pass over second-place TCU in favor of third-place BYU. The Cougars' ability to fill the stadium, and the hotel rooms, in Las Vegas, apparently is the trump card for the Las Vegas bowl committee.

But given the short turnaround this time — the Las Vegas Bowl is less than two weeks away — and the fact that BYU entered the season with high hopes of a BCS bid that went by the wayside with conference losses to TCU and Utah, will disappointed Cougar fans return to Las Vegas in droves again?

Ironically, the hype about BYU busting the BCS started moments after it defeated UCLA by blocking a last-second field goal at the end of the Las Vegas Bowl, as Cougar players immediately proclaimed that 2008 would be the year to go undefeated and bust the BCS.

Certainly, they didn't foresee themselves back on that same field one year later. If the bowl situation plays out as expected, they will be.

Though it's not the holiday destination BYU had in mind this season, the Cougars are set to return to a place, oddly enough, where they feel right at home.

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com