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SALT LAKE CITY -- No. 19-ranked Utah (10-2, 7-1 MWC) will play No. 11 Boise State (11-1, 7-1 WAC) in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas on Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 5:00 p.m. PT in Sam Boyd Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Utah finished No. 19 in both the BCS standings and the USA Today Coaches' poll. The Utes are 20th in the Associated Press rankings. Boise State is 11th in the final BCS standings and No. 10 in both the A.P. and Coaches' polls.
Utah and Boise State are playing in the 19th edition of what is now the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas. Utah has a 2-0 Las Vegas Bowl record, with wins over Fresno State in 1999 and USC in 2001. Boise State makes its first Las Vegas Bowl appearance.
Utah owns the nation's longest active bowl win streak at nine games (1999, 2001, 2003-2009). The nine-straight wins ties Utah for the second-longest bowl win streak of all time with USC, which won nine straight spanning from 1923-45. Florida State holds the record with 11 consecutive bowl wins (1985-96).
Utah's current bowl win streak began in Las Vegas in 1999 against Fresno State. Utah's next bowl game and bowl win was also in Las Vegas--against USC in 2001. Utah is 12-3 all-time in bowl games and its 80-percent postseason success rate is the best in the nation among teams that have played in at least 10 bowl games.
Utah has played just one other Western Athletic Conference school in a bowl game, defeating Fresno State in the 1999 Las Vegas Bowl. For a complete list of Utah's bowl results, see sidebar on this page.
The Utes are 2-4 all-time against Boise State. For more on the series, see page two of this release.
BOWL VETS
Utah is making its 10th and Boise State its 11th bowl appearance in the last 12 years. Utah is 9-0 during that time, while Boise State is 6-4. Both teams are 2-0 in BCS bowl games: Utah with wins over Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, and Boise with wins over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.
10.0 ROUTINE
Utah has won at least 10 games for the third year in a row under sixth-year head coach Kyle Whittingham. Utah has six 10-win seasons in its 117-year history, including five in the last eight years: 2003 (10-2), 2004 (12-0), 2008 (13-0), 2009 (10-3), 2010 (10-2). The school's other 10-win season was in 1994 (10-2).
GRIDBITS
Utah leads the nation's non automatic qualifying teams with a 21-12 record against BCS teams since the BCS began in 1998. Boise State is 8-12 against BCS teams ... Utah has three Las Vegas natives on its travel roster: sophomore receiver DeVonte Christopher (Canyon Springs HS), senior running back Eddie Wide (Cimmaron Memorial HS) and freshman offensive lineman Jeremiah Tofaeono (Cheyenne HS). Christopher is Utah's leading receiver (660 yards), Wide is the team's leading rusher (683 yards) and Tofaeono has played in every game on special teams. Christopher (2007) and Wide (2006) were both the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year as seniors, while Tofaeono made the all-state first team ... Utah is 19-13-1 in December games and has won six straight ... This will be Utah's first Dec. 22 game.
