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SALT LAKE CITY — Now that Utah has secured a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, the full gamut of bowl games is at their disposal.
But No. 17 Utah's final game against in-state rival BYU and the championship game could largely determine where the Utes fall in the pecking order, come Selection Sunday on Dec. 2.
The selection process for bowl games in the Pac-12 is a bit nuanced, so it’s not as simple as matching up bowl games with a team’s conference record. In short, the bowl selection committee has some leeway with Pac-12 teams to pick whomever it wants, within one loss of the highest-ranked team available based on conference record (not overall record). Think of it as a draft, where each bowl selection committee gets to select from a pool of available teams.
Fair or not, it’s how the Pac-12 has negotiated its bowl tie-ins, and teams are left hoping for a favorable bowl matchup. The order of bowl selection is as follows: Rose Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Redbox Bowl, Sun Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl and the Cheez-It Bowl.
With that in mind, here’s a look at each bowl game available to Utah and where they’re likely to fall. Nothing is a guarantee, so don’t go buy plane tickets based on this quick look — well, you can, but it might not be a Utah team you’ll be watching.
Rose Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten)
Location: Rose Bowl — Pasadena, California
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 at 3 p.m. MT (ESPN)
2017 Matchup: College Football Playoffs semifinals — No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia
Selection process: Unless the conference champion is one of four teams selected to play in the College Football Playoffs, the Rose Bowl takes the winner of the Pac-12 Championship game. The Pac-12 champ will be paired up with the top team to come out of the Big Ten in the premier college football bowl outside of the playoffs. Should the Pac-12 champion be included in the playoffs, the selection committee is free to choose another Pac-12 team.
Outlook: Utah is certainly capable of reaching the Rose Bowl, but it will take the Utes beating either Washington or Washington State in the Pac-12 Championship game for that to be a reality. Utah lost to both teams earlier in the season, but had yet to find a rhythm on offense and allowed late-game mistakes to doom their opportunities. Should Washington State reach the championship game, they’ll likely be the favorite here; however, Utah played the Cougars tough earlier in the season and should have come away with a win. It’s a positive look for the Utes, but it will take a great effort to reach their first-ever Rose Bowl.
Playstation Fiesta Bowl (New Year’s Six)
Location: State Farm Stadium, formerly known as University of Phoenix Stadium — Glendale, Arizona
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 at 11 a.m. MT (ESPN)
2017 Matchup: Washington vs. Penn State
Selection process: Although not a conference tie-in to the Pac-12, it’s one of the New Year’s Six destinations. Once the four playoff teams are selected, the remaining eight top teams will advance to a New Year’s Six bowl. The Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl both have conference affiliations, and the top teams from those conferences will fill the spots. But the Fiesta Bowl selects two at-large or Group of Five teams ranked in the Top 12 teams.
Outlook: This is the least likely destination for Utah given their current spot at No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings, but it’s still an option. Utah would need teams ahead of them to lose and they'd need to jump up somewhere near the Top 10 to make this a reality. The Utes would also need to maintain a Top 12 ranking, despite losing the conference championship game, for this to be possible. But a four-loss team in the Top 12 seems unlikely.
Since the Pac-12 started in 2011, only one division winner has dropped below the Holiday Bowl. In 2011, UCLA dropped to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. USC won the division, but could not appear in a bowl.
— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) November 21, 2018
Valero Alamo Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Big 12)
Location: Alamodome — San Antonio, Texas
Date: Friday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. MT (ESPN)
2017 Matchup: Stanford vs. TCU
Selection process: The Alamo Bowl is required to select the team from both the Pac-12 and Big 12 that has the next best conference record in the Pac-12 standings, but may select a team within one loss of that team.
Outlook: Regardless of who represents the North in the championship game, Utah, with its 6-3 conference record, will likely be tied with one of several teams. The Utes would hold a better overall record, which may help them in terms of separating them for the other tied teams, but they would be left to what the bowl selection committee wants. This doesn’t bode well for Utah should the committee have more affection for other tied teams, such as Washington or Oregon.
Utah is the favored team to land here, but they could greatly benefit from Washington beating Washington State in the Apple Cup and then winning the championship game. The Cougars would likely claim a Fiesta Bowl bid and the Huskies would land in the Rose Bowl. If Utah has to lose in the championship game, this is the best option for the Utes. Many national outlets are projecting the Utes to land in this bowl should they lose the championship game, but it’s merely speculation based on how Utah finishes the season.
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten)
Location: San Diego County Credit Union Stadium, formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium — San Diego, California
Date: Monday, Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. MT (FS1)
2017 Matchup: Washington State vs. Michigan State
Selection process: Similar to the Alamo Bowl, the Holiday Bowl is required to select the team from the Pac-12 with the next best conference record in the Pac-12 standings, but may select a team within one loss of that team. The Big Ten assigns schools to bowls and no school will appear in the same bowl in back-to-back season (so no Michigan State). But for the Big Ten, the Holiday Bowl is the fourth in the pecking order.
Outlook: Although dropping to the Holiday Bowl may seem less than ideal for the Utes, the Holiday Bowl is a nice option beyond making it to the Rose Bowl. Whereas the Alamo Bowl could likely select some other team ahead of the Utes, the Holiday Bowl would be hard-pressed to skip over the Utes, who have never appeared in the Holiday Bowl since joining the Pac-12. As mentioned above, though, Utah would be tied with other teams and could be overlooked here for the Holiday Bowl. If Utah doesn’t land in the Alamo Bowl, the Holiday Bowl seems to be the next logical fit, but crazier things have happened — see Utah landing in the Las Vegas Bowl with a 10-2 record and No. 20 ranking in 2015.
Redbox Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten)
Location: Levi’s Stadium — Santa Clara, California
Date: Monday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. MT (FOX)
2017 Matchup: Arizona vs. Purdue
Selection process: Similar to the Alamo Bowl, the Redbox Bowl is required to select the team from the Pac-12 with the next best conference record in the Pac-12 standings, but may select a team within one loss of that team. The Big Ten assigns schools to bowls and no school will appear in the same bowl in back-to-back season (so no Michigan State). But for the Big Ten, the Redbox Bowl is the seventh in the pecking order.
Outlook: Given that Utah will play in Levi’s Stadium for the championship game, it’s unlikely they’d play in the Redbox Bowl, should they drop this far. For that reason, if Utah fails to land in any of the above bowls, it’s likely they would drop to the Sun Bowl before landing in the Redbox Bowl. Utah previously played in this bowl in 2016 when it was known as the Foster Farms Bowl. The venue is nice and would accomodate Utah fans well, but it would seem a disappointment after claiming their first South Division title.
Hyundai Sun Bowl (Pac-12 vs. ACC)
Location: Sun Bowl Stadium— El Paso, Texas
Date: Monday, Dec. 31 at 12 p.m. MT (CBS)
2017 Matchup: Arizona State vs. NC State
Selection process: Similar to the Alamo Bowl, the Sun Bowl is required to select the team from the Pac-12 with the next best conference record in the Pac-12 standings, but may select a team within one loss of that team. The ACC has a tiered system in selecting bowl opponents. In Tier 1, which is where the Sun Bowl falls among three other bowls, the schools, bowls and conference office determine which team would land in the Sun Bowl.
Outlook: As mentioned above, this is likely the landing spot for Utah should they not play in the Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl. It’s most likely the farthest the Utes could fall, but would be greatly disappointing given their success this season. Additionally, travel to El Paso would be less than ideal for fans, and this bowl game would struggle to encourage fans to make the trek given that the Rose Bowl was at one point on the line. The only real benefit of playing this game for the Utes would be padding Kyle Whittingham’s bowl record and sending the seniors out with a bowl win.
Other bowls:
The remaining bowls in play for the Pac-12 are the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Mountain West) and the Cheez-It Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Big 12). Utah is not likely to play in either bowl. But should they drop this far, it’s time for Whittingham to petition the Pac-12 about the massive disrespect his program has received.
