Las Vegas » Arizona's Rob Gronkowski and BYU's Dennis Pitta won't face each other on the field Saturday as the Las Vegas Bowl plays out at Sam Boyd Stadium.

But they will be keeping a close eye on each other.

That's because Pitta, a junior, and Gronkowski, a sophomore, are considered two of the top tight ends in the country. Earlier this week, Gronkowski was named a third-team All-America tight end by The Associated Press.

Pitta was snubbed, despite better numbers than the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Arizona star from Amherst, N.Y.

Pitta had 1,025 receiving yards, while Gronkowski had 645. Gronkowski missed the first three games of the season but still had 10 touchdown catches. Pitta had six, while sharing the position with Andrew George, who had five.

"It is not a real big deal," Pitta said of the apparent snub. "I don't let other people determine my success, and so it is not a big deal for me."

Thursday, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall called Gronkowski "a phenomenal talent, for his combination of size and speed."

Pitta said he will wear the same bulky knee brace on Saturday that he wore in the Utah game.

"It takes some getting used to. It limits my mobility a little bit, but it is something I have to wear to protect my knee, and so I am going to do whatever I can to help our team be successful on Saturday and get on that field."

Asked about his reaction when he heard the Cougars were making a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl for the fourth straight year, Pitta said, "I love Vegas. I was excited. It is a fun town to be in -- good energy here. Obviously, we had goals at the beginning of the season that we wanted to obtain, and fell short on a couple of them, but we still plan to win this game, and that's what we are focusing on."

Perfect timing

Mendenhall is glad he's not Kyle Whittingham right now, and not just because the Utah coach has to replace his offensive coordinator when the bowl season is over.

Mendenhall said having more than 40 days between the regular season and a bowl game is too much. The Cougars will have 28 days between games.

"Frankly, we've given our players a lot of time off and have been trying to pace ourselves and then peak for the bowl game even with one of the earlier ones," he said. "And I am not sure how you would manage one that you are playing in January. This [time between games] that we have seems about right."

It goes without saying, of course, that Mendenhall would rather be playing in a BCS bowl game than the Las Vegas Bowl for the fourth straight year.

Being nice

Told that Mendenhall has been saying for two weeks that Arizona will be the best team the Cougars have faced in four Las Vegas Bowl appearances, Wildcats coach Mike Stoops said Mendenhall is just being nice.

"He's trying to soften us up before the game," Stoops said. "No, he's a great guy. I think both teams have a lot of respect [for each other]. I think we build our teams very similar. When you look at their personnel and ours, I think both coaches, as defensive coaches, we bring that style to our team."

Briefly

Players and staff from both teams have received a gift package from the bowl that includes a Nintendo Wii system (bundle package), an Oakley Holeshot 3hd watch and a Las Vegas Bowl cap. … Arizona is the designated home team and will wear red jerseys with red pants and blue helmets. The Cougars will wear white jerseys with blue pants and white helmets. … A crew from the ACC will officiate the game. … David Hasselhoff, former star of the television show Baywatch, will sing the national anthem. Hasselhoff's daughter is a freshman at Arizona. … The Cougars practiced for about 75 minutes Thursday morning at Bishop Gorman High School. The first-team offense looked sharp, especially receiver Austin Collie, who hauled in a couple long passes, including a one-hander.

drew@sltrib.com