A look at potential bowl destinations for Utah State
Finishing their 2015 campaign with a 6-6 record, Utah State will almost certainly be one of a record 80 football teams bowling in December. While the Aggies’ winter destination remains a mystery until Sunday, several rumors surrounding potential locales and familiar foes have already begun circulating.
Bowl selection committees are unpredictable by nature, often taking a team’s ability to travel with its fanbase into account, as well as its quality of play. A popular suspicion has USU slotted in the Arizona Bowl on Dec. 29 against Conference USA opponent Louisiana Tech. The Aggies beat a ranked LA Tech in an overtime thriller back in 2012, making this potential bowl battle particularly enticing. For fans hoping to see a proper bookend to sixth-year senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton’s career, this showdown in Tucson would certainly provide more intrigue than most other potential matchups — and it helps that a Mountain West team is guaranteed a spot.
Much of the Aggies’ cloudy future relies on conference rival Boise State’s destination. The Las Vegas Bowl has all but declared BYU its preferred team, which frees up the Poinsettia Bowl to take the Broncos to San Diego. With the Idaho Potato Bowl open, it would seem either Utah State or SDSU could get the bid to battle a team from the MAC.
The Aggies notably dominated the Potato Bowl in 2012, dropping the 9-3 Toledo Rockets 41-15 and sparking a bowl game winning streak that now sits at three straight — with a fourth on the horizon.
Other bowls set to select MW teams this weekend include the Hawaii Bowl, New Mexico Bowl and — if things get completely out of hand — the Cactus Bowl. With BYU likely heading to Vegas, one lucky MW team is a lock to spend Christmas Eve in Honolulu, though most predictions for this coming weekend see Colorado State earning the Hawaii bid.
The New Mexico Bowl typically aims for a Conference-USA vs. Mountain West matchup, so if other bowls pass on the Aggies in favor of SDSU’s record or BSU’s massive regional fanbase, it’s technically plausible that Utah State could end up in Albuquerque.