This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

You could chuck all the bowl game scenarios for Utah, BYU and Utah State in a cement mixer, let them spin and flow out any which way and be about as accurate as any guesses right now about who's going where.

Some options, especially for fans, are better than others.

Everybody has his own reasons.

If you're BYU, bound to one of two options, you take the Vegas Bowl over the Hawaii Bowl, right? The islands — aloha — are primo, the ocean breezes warm, but not so much under these circumstances.

In Vegas, the school gets a better payout, you don't have to hassle with half-spanning the Pacific and playing in a town that pretty much hates your guts from back when you used to steal all the good recruits from the Rainbows, and you get your business taken care of before the holiday rush (Dec. 19). Nothing brings in the Yule log, tosses a wreath over your head or jingles your bells quite like heading off to Honolulu to play a team from the American Athletic Conference — Tulsa, anyone? — in a majorly minor bowl game in 80-degree weather at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, a bowl game almost nobody will watch.

No.

You want Vegas.

More fans can and will go to the Royal Purple. The Cougars would play the fifth or sixth choice out of the Pac-12, an interesting matchup regardless of who that team might be. Plus, there's at least the chance, however small, of a postseason tilt against your rival from Salt Lake City.

Utah vs. BYU at Sam Boyd?

You don't think the folks in Las Vegas wouldn't salivate at the thought of a game like that? The only corners dragging anchor on such a possibility would be insecure/hyper-sensitive/delusional Utah fans who still think the Utes are too good to stoop so low for the Cougars.

Whatever the outcome, that game would be a win for everybody around here.

But Utah, a team that for so much of this season — to no avail — had big dreams of playing in the college football playoff or the Rose Bowl, might get invited elsewhere. After the Rose, the Pac-12 has connections to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, the Foster Farms Bowl in the Bay Area, the Sun Bowl in El Paso, the Vegas Bowl, and the Cactus Bowl in Tucson.

So, the question becomes: What's your priority for a bowl game? You want location? You want a place where you can have a good time? You want a nice stadium experience? You want a convenient date? You want the best opponent? You want tradition? You want the most exposure?

The Alamo Bowl features a matchup against the Big 12's No. 2 team, which at this juncture remains undetermined. That game is on ESPN on Jan. 2 at 4:45 p.m., and is played at San Antonio's Alamodome. The Utes likely won't get the invite here.

The Holiday Bowl is played at Qualcomm Stadium on Dec. 30 at 8:30 p.m. against a Big Ten team on ESPN. Two words that make this game worth hoping for: San Diego. It's a convenient date, a sweet matchup, a beautiful city, a great fan destination.

The Foster Farms Bowl is the night after Christmas against a Big Ten foe in Santa Clara, Calif., at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN. The best part of this game is … it's played at Levi's Stadium, an extraordinary venue, near San Francisco, an extraordinary city. Everything else about it is … ho-hum.

The Sun Bowl is played against an ACC team at noon the day after Christmas in El Paso. Anybody excited about this possibility has never spent much time in West Texas, let alone spent Christmas Day there, which fans would pretty much be forced to do to make kickoff. Only the hardcore would bother.

The Cactus Bowl is played against the Big 12's No. 6 team at 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 2 at Phoenix's Chase Field, the Diamondbacks' ballpark. Not an ideal setting. Not a tradition-rich bowl. Not a great option. Warmer weather, yes. Lots of desert. Lots of terrific golf courses nearby. Better to visit during spring training.

Best scenarios for the Utes: the Holiday Bowl or the Vegas, although that destination, at a game played in kind of an erector set of a stadium, would be an immediate repeat for the Utes. Playing BYU, though, would be a first, considering the rivals have never before played one another in a bowl game.

That would be cool.

As for the Aggies, they could end up in the Arizona Bowl in Tucson against Arizona (ESPN's guess) or Old Dominion (CBS Sports' guess) or in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., against Cincinnati (SB Nation's guess). Uh … playing the Wildcats on their home field would be a worthwhile matchup. The others … well, have fun watching from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy, with a cold beverage in one hand and a stack of ham sandwiches in the other, on your 60-inch.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.