This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
John Saccenti genuinely wishes he knew how the Pac-12 bowls will shake out, so he could tell you.
And not just out of the goodness of his heart.
The Vegas Bowl is Saturday, Dec. 20 — less than two weeks away from Sunday's selection show — and he'd like to give fans enough notice to come.
But the inaugural College Football Playoff has thrown a wrench in the works for the six Pac-12 affiliated bowls.
"This is the craziest year that I can remember," said the Vegas Bowl executive director on Monday afternoon. "Usually, by now, we have a really good idea of what's going on."
First, No. 3 Oregon and No. 8 Arizona will meet 7 p.m. Friday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., for the Pac-12 Championship. Bowl executives can't be certain yet that the loser will go on to play in one of the so-called "New Year's Six" bowl games.
And that's problematic, because if Arizona enters the Pac-12 bowl field, everything gets screwy.
But bowl officials The Tribune has spoken with believe that scenario is unlikely.
Assuming the Wildcats are destined for greater things, here's what you need to know:
The top three choices belong to 1. the Alamo Bowl, 2. the Holiday Bowl and 3. the Foster Farms Bowl, who all have the power to select Utah or Stanford — 5-4 in conference — over 6-3 USC, UCLA and ASU.
After those comes the Sun Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl and Cactus Bowl, which must choose by order of conference finish. So, the Sun Bowl can weigh 5-4 Utah and Stanford, but it can't pass up 6-3 ASU.
Officials agreed Monday that the following, then, is as probable an order as any:
1. UCLA to Alamo Bowl • Despite ending on a sour note against Stanford, UCLA has the playbill appeal that the Alamo — said to keep its cards close to the vest — pays top dollar for. The Bruins boast a national profile due to their coach (Jim Mora), quarterback (Brett Hundley) and weekly promotion on the Pac-12 Network's "The Drive."
2. USC to Holiday Bowl • This one's simple: If the Alamo doesn't take them, the Holiday Bowl will snatch up the Trojans in a heartbeat. It would be USC's first appearance in the Holiday Bowl, and they have a devoted fan base residing just up the I-5. If the Alamo selects USC instead, the Holiday is almost sure to pass on 2013 participant Arizona State and may also opt for Stanford or Utah over 2012 Holiday loser UCLA.
3. Stanford to Foster Farms Bowl • The quandary for these organizers is that they have to fill a 68,500-seat stadium. "But Stanford doesn't fill its home stadium," you may say, but can another team transplant more fans to the Bay Area? Levi's Stadium is a mere 20-minute drive from Palo Alto.
4. Arizona State to Sun Bowl • If ASU's still on the table, this becomes a mandated selection, unless Notre Dame is eligible due to an affiliation with the ACC. It's not exactly clear what would happen then, as bowls generally frown upon regular season rematches. Should the Sun Bowl choose between Utah and Stanford, expect them to pick Utah on the basis that Utah fans are more likely to travel to El Paso after three years between bowls than Stanford fans are after four straight BCS appearances.
5. Utah to Las Vegas Bowl • Again, if Utah were all that remained, there would be no choice. Should Arizona fall into the field — if it were to become a choice between Utah and Stanford — organizers are well aware that the Runnin' Utes play UNLV at the MGM Grand later that night. Stanford might then fall from a likeliest choice in the third-selection Foster Farms Bowl to the sixth-selection Cactus Bowl.
Got all that?
Still, that's not factoring in matchups with other conferences — bowls like an even fight — and it may not be paying enough credit to the strong interest in Utah expressed to The Tribune by Sun and Foster Farms bowl representatives.
All you can do is wait.
Later in the week, when the bowls have hammered out their contingencies, it may become clear where Utah is headed based on the CFB committee's decisions.
Utah's players won't return to the practice field until next Monday, with shortened practices slated through that Saturday.
Teams are limited during bowl weeks by the usual regular season practice rules, so the later the bowl, the more practice time they have.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham thought Saturday that they might return to action later this week, if they thought the Las Vegas Bowl was likely.
But this isn't a clue, the U. says.
They, like everybody else, are clueless.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
2014 Pac-12 bowl tie-ins
No. 1 • College Football Playoff or remaining "New Years Six" game*
No. 2 • Alamo Bowl: Friday, Jan. 2, at San Antonio's Alamodome, against the Big 12 No. 2
No. 3 • Holiday Bowl: Saturday, Dec. 27, at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium, against the Big Ten No. 4
No. 4 • Foster Farms Bowl: Tuesday, Dec. 30, at Santa Clara, Calif.'s Levi's Stadium, against the Big Ten No. 6
No. 5 • Sun Bowl: Saturday, Dec. 27, at El Paso, Texas' Sun Bowl Stadium, against the ACC No. 4
No. 6 • Las Vegas Bowl: Saturday, Dec. 20, at Las Vegas' Sam Boyd Stadium, against the Mountain West No. 1
No. 7 • Cactus Bowl: Friday, Jan. 2, at Tempe, Ariz.'s Sun Devil Stadium, against the Big 12 No. 6
* The conference-affiliated Rose Bowl is a CFB semifinal this year, leaving the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl as possible destinations, should the Pac-12 winner not be selected in the committee's final four.