This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
At this point, your New Year's Day plans are safe: Utah football will play its bowl game well before we start 2017.
The November slide of the Utes (8-4, 5-4) has put them out of the picture for many of the Pac-12's prime bowls and instead put them in reach of more familiar destinations. In all likelihood, Utah will be spending the holidays at one of three destinations: the Foster Farms Bowl, the Sun Bowl or — for a third straight time — the Las Vegas Bowl.
It's not what fans hoped for or wanted even at the start of the month, with a Pac-12 title still in play. But after two disappointing losses to finish the regular season, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he'll take what he can get.
"I'm glad these guys get to play together one more time because they deserve that," he said. "It's a chance to win our ninth game, and that would be a very positive end to our season, as disappointing as the last few weeks have been."
Last week, cornerback Dominique Hatfield said the team didn't want to return to Vegas, where it has won each of the last two seasons. If that's still the case, Utah ought to become big Washington fans this week when the No. 5 Huskies take on No. 9 Colorado in the Pac-12 title game.
Utah's best hope to move up in the bowl slots rests on Washington making the College Football Playoff field with a win over the Buffs. In that scenario, the one-loss Huskies would go to the semifinal, either Colorado or USC would go to the Rose Bowl, the other would likely go to the Alamo Bowl, and Stanford or Washington State would go to the Holiday Bowl. That would leave Stanford or Wazzu in play with Utah for the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., with the Sun Bowl taking whichever team is left.
Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas said if that's Utah, he's certainly fine with that. He took positives away from when Utah came in 2011.
"An 8-4 team from where we pick is always good," he said. "It's a very easy group to host, which isn't always the case. As far as team and administration, it doesn't get much better than Kyle Whittingham and Chris Hill. If that's who we get, we welcome them with arms wide open."
Vegas Bowl executive director John Saccenti is increasingly convinced that even if Washington loses on Friday, the Huskies still could be an at-large in the New Year's Six Bowls, possibly the Cotton Bowl against a Group of Five opponent. That would put Colorado in the Rose, USC in the Alamo, Wazzu/Stanford in the Holiday and Foster Farms. And still, Utah would go to El Paso, with Pac-12-contracted bowls Las Vegas and Cactus without a Pac-12 team.
Saccenti said he's communicated with other Pac-12 bowls less this year than any prior season — he's anticipating having to find an at-large to square off with the Mountain West champ for his game on Dec. 17.
"I gotta be honest with you: Going into this season, I never imagined being in this position and not having a Pac-12 team," he said. "We're scouring the country trying to figure out an alternative."
Could that team be Utah? Yes.
While Saccenti said he would "prefer" not to three-peat with the Utes (and the Utes may not want to three-peat with them), if only one Pac-12 team plays in the New Year's Six, the Vegas Bowl would take whichever Pac-12 team is left. If it comes down to Utah and Washington State, Saccenti said the Pac-12 would likely "step in" and arrange for Wazzu (which went to the Sun Bowl last year) to go to Vegas, and Utah to go to El Paso.
If it's Stanford and Utah, the Cardinal have a better conference record (6-3) than the Utes and arguably more prestige — the Sun Bowl could leave Utah out in the cold, so to speak.
But Utah could also move up, too: If the Holiday Bowl takes Washington State and Foster Farms picks between Stanford and Utah, the Utes could leap the Cardinal (the hometown team) in the pecking order. Stanford last went to the bowl in 2014, and if the Cardinal is looking for a destination, and the bowl is looking for a fresh team, there might be a good arrangement to be made in the Bay Area for Utah to play a Big Ten opponent.
Everything, of course, hinges on playoff selection: The Pac-12 needs to get two teams into the New Years' Six for Utah to be assured of not going to Vegas for a third straight time. But wherever they go, the Utes said they'll be ready.
"Everybody has got to keep their heads up," Troy Williams said on Saturday. "It hurts, but we still have one more game. We still have one more time to go out there with each other and enjoy it."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah bowl possibilities
Foster Farms Bowl • 6:30 p.m. MST, Dec. 28, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif. (FOX). Of the bowls in Utah's orbit, it has the biggest payout, narrowly edging the Sun Bowl, and the team's Californians probably would be amenable to spending the holidays by the Bay. But this bowl against the Big Ten has never been a big draw in attendance or TV in a cavernous NFL stadium.
Sun Bowl • Noon MST, Dec. 30, Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas. (CBS). Last time the Utes were here, they won a thriller in overtime against Georgia Tech. But despite a substantial payout and an ACC foe to play, this bowl game is hard to reach for most fans.
Las Vegas Bowl • 1:30 p.m MST, Dec. 17, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas. (ABC). It's convenient, in a big city and Utah can knock out the game and season relatively early. But besides the very obvious "we've been here three times" problem plus a mid-major opponent, Utah also loses some of the benefits of bowl practices with such a short timeline.