BYU football: Finding a Bowl opponent wasn't easy

John Reid must have felt like a car salesman who had a Rolls Royce that nobody was willing to take for a test drive.

Twenty-five years ago, Reid was the executive director of the Holiday Bowl, a post he held for 21 years. And 25 years ago, the Holiday Bowl just happened to have the No. 1-ranked team in the country playing in its bowl game — Brigham Young University. Reid has written a book about his Holiday Bowl experiences titled "Miracles & Memories, 25 Years of Holiday Bowl Magic." The book covers the years 1978 through 2002.

In 1984, I was the executive sports editor for the Deseret News and was one of three members of the sports staff — sports editor Lee Benson and BYU beat writer Doug Robinson were the other two — who journeyed to San Diego for the bowl game that was to change the landscape of college football.

When BYU was voted national champion after defeating Michigan, 24-17, it marked the only time that a national champion was determined in a non-New Year's Day traditional bowl.

And while the game was dramatic, with injured BYU quarterback Robbie Bosco rallying the Cougars to two fourth-quarter touchdowns to topple the Wolverines, there was a lot of drama before the game. And it centered on finding an opponent to play the undefeated and No. 1-ranked Cougars.

I recall numerous conversations with Reid during that time. In fact, one time he called me and asked if I had any ideas on who could play BYU.

That's because the top-tier teams were more interested in money than the opportunity to play the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.

"In the process of soliciting highly-ranked teams, the Bowl learned a hard lesson. Dollars will win nearly every time over the opportunity to move higher in the polls," Reid said in his book and to me recently.

For a while, Reid thought he had a dream match-up as Washington, which was ranked No. 1 in early November with a 9-0 record, lost to the University of Southern California to not only knock it from the ranks of the unbeaten, but out of the Rose Bowl race as well.

In addition, Reid was a graduate of the University of Washington and had worked as the school's sports information director.

However, it quickly became apparent "that money was more important than ranking," Reid said.

As a second-tier bowl, the Holiday Bowl payout per team in 1984 was $470,000. The Orange Bowl payout was $2 million. The Huskies opted for the money and the prestige of a New Year's Day bowl.

Boston College, with its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Doug Flutie, did the same, opting for more money and more prestige to play in the Cotton Bowl.