2017 Arizona Bowl: Utah State’s bowl invitation that almost wasn’t
For the past two weeks, Utah State football fans have been thrilled with the Aggies’ invitation to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl to play New Mexico State. In the midst of the excitement, it’s easy to forget that an invite to the Arizona Bowl, or any bowl for that matter, was far from a certainty. USU fans were sitting on pins and needles for a full week in anticipation of a bowl invite, and even when reports leaked of Utah State’s postseason destination, enthusiasm was quickly replaced with palpable dread as it seemed a bowl would be snatched out of USU’s grasp.
So just how close was Utah State to being left out of this year’s bowl season? Perhaps no man knows more than Ali Farhang, founder and chairman of the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl.
“It was pretty firm in my mind that we were going to have the dream matchup of Utah State versus New Mexico State,” Farhang said. “With the history of the schools, it was perfect. It was perfect for our bowl game, it was perfect for our community, it was great for the schools, and then, we got a little bit of a twist.”
Drama at the @novaAZBOWL announcement. The two teams they thought they had, are no more. Announcement still pending… pic.twitter.com/sgzE8aT6nO
— Erica Weston (@EricaLWeston) December 3, 2017
New Mexico State had been very vocal throughout the season that it would only be able to accept a bowl bid to either the Arizona Bowl or the New Mexico Bowl due to financial constraints. While USU’s availability for the Arizona Bowl remained in question until the final week of the season, the matchup was a blatantly desirable outcome for the third-year bowl. But, as with much of college sports, the situation remained fluid throughout conference championship weekend.
Ohio State’s victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship, along with their being shut out of the College Football Playoff, meant that the Big Ten Conference was suddenly able to fill all of their contracted bowl tie-ins, an outcome that seemed quite improbable during the final weeks of the regular season. With the Mountain West exceeding their amount of bowl tie-ins with bowl eligible teams, a non-MW bowl was required to allow all eligible MW teams to extend their seasons into postseason play. The presumed bowl had been the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, California, with a MW team playing in place of a Big Ten representative. The Big Ten suddenly being able to fill all of their tie-ins, however, resulted in a scramble for the MW to place their final bowl eligible team.
“It’s the selection process and college football, and the secret is it’s a complete crapshoot. It’s all horse trading,” Farhang said. “It’s an art. There’s no science or objectivity to that whatsoever.”
Update: Evidently the Fiesta Bowl snowball effect is what’s messed up the Arizona Bowl selection. Word is that Utah State May be on the chopping block. Bowl Executive is on the phone with conferences as we speak.
— Christopher Boan (@cgboan) December 3, 2017
WIth Utah State’s postseason now squarely in jeopardy, a flurry of activity on the part of the Arizona Bowl staff, as well as representatives of the MW and Sun Belt conferences.
We have some drama here, as the Arizona Bowl’s teams evidently are no longer available. There’s a meeting of the minds right now to figure out what they’re going to do. pic.twitter.com/ZAA7XdCuzu
— Christopher Boan (@cgboan) December 3, 2017
“Our announcement was delayed two hours, so that gives you some idea,” Farhang said. “We have a great partner in the Mountain West. We have great partners with the Sun Belt conference. When you have great partners like that and they’re fighting with you, it makes it a whole lot easier.”
Here’s what we know: New Mexico State WILL play in Tucson. Still debate going on about who the Aggies will play. Bowl officials tell me it’s not a guarantee that the Mountain West will get selected.
— Christopher Boan (@cgboan) December 3, 2017
While Farhang admits that NMSU-USU was the bowl’s dream matchup, the fact remains that much of a bowl’s matchup is outside of the bowl’s control. Conferences, television and media programming, and many other factors can sway decisions. Eventually, and luckily for Utah State, the dream pulled through.
“I’m the chairman of the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, but I’m also an attorney and the managing partner of my law firm and I’m a high school football coach,” Farhang said, “I use all those skills. I used a lot of legal terms as a lawyer. I cussed a lot as a football coach and I made sure that the people that needed to hear the message received it and it resonated because… we’re all about the collegiate experience and the essence of college football and what it should be about. So, we had a fight really hard. I’m glad that we prevailed.”
The outcome of the bowl itself is still anyone’s guess, but if the process to simply arrange the game is any indication, buckle up. It could be a bumpy ride.