but it’s still really lame.

At least we got a really good opponent in BYU.

AND USC is playing in the emerald bowl against an unranked opponent. So satisfying.

But a challenging opponent that will make it interesting. Missed the last Vegas Bowl against New Mexico and will miss this one as well with visiting family for Christmas. Wish this game was later in the month!

has to be pretty happy with this matchup, and the Poinsettia too, with Utah vs. Cal. Too bad these bowls don’t pay what the talent and fan base they get is worth.

The Mt. West’s bowl package is even worse than the Pac-10’s! Meanwhile Northwestern and Auburn are in the Outback Bowl.

But landing in the fourth place bowl is no one else’s fault; as we discussed back in September, we knew blowing the game against Arizona was going to really hurt, just as the year before blowing the Stanford game clear back in August did. Whenever you take a bad loss in a game you should win, there is a price to pay beyond just that loss.

Lose a month of practice for all the returning players. Lose a national exposure game. Lose a recruiting opportunity in the quality Las Vegas market, which is a priority of coach Riley’s. Lose the confidence of the current and future recruits. Lose money. Lose future TV leverage.

To throw the Las Vegas bowl away would be to take a major step toward making sure it is harder to get to any bowl.