College football: Utah teams have plenty to play for

With all five of Utah's Division I football teams entering the final stretch of the college football season, here's a breakdown of postseason possibilities for each team:

BYU

Dream scenario: With all hopes of a BCS bid dashed after last week's 38-7 loss to TCU, a trip to San Diego for a first-ever appearance in the Poinsettia Bowl seems like the best-case scenario for BYU. The Cougars haven't played in a bowl game in San Diego since the 1993 Holiday Bowl, a postseason game they helped build from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. A change in venue after four straight years in the Las Vegas Bowls would be a breath of fresh air for BYU players, coaches and fans. Under almost any circumstance, San Diego is an ideal place to be in late December.

Likely: The Poinsettia Bowl seems like the most likely destination for BYU. Should TCU go to a BCS bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl would probably select Utah. Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson has suggested that the Las Vegas Bowl would pick a team other than BYU this year after the Cougars have had four straight postseason trips to Sam Boyd Stadium.

Worst case: Should the Cougars continue to stumble in their final four games, and should a team like Air Force or San Diego State finish strong, BYU could wind up in the Armed Forces Bowl, New Mexico Bowl or Humanitarian Bowl.

Utah

Dream scenario: The Utes, who are the only outsider to reach the Bowl Championship Series twice, make history again by becoming the first one loss team to crash the lucrative party. In order to do so, they would need a lot of help from Boise State's remaining opponents and then there's the whole need-to-beat TCU and BYU situation. Repeating as Mountain West Conference champions, though, would be quite an accomplishment since it would most likely require road wins in Fort Worth and Provo.

Likely: If TCU runs the table and secures a BCS berth, then the Las Vegas Bowl will have to make a decision between BYU and Utah. But the Poinsettia Bowl isn't a bad consolation prize.

Worst case: Fort Worth, Boise or Albuquerque. Since the Utes are already bowl eligible, they're pretty much assured of going somewhere — especially on the heels of their Sugar Bowl success. The Armed Forces, Humanitarian and New Mexico bowls would most likely love to host last season's BCS busters.

Utah State