Utah? U-BET!

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

B-Y-Who?

That was the reaction of the EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl on Monday afternoon when it decided to pick Mountain West Conference tri-champ Utah (8-3, 5-2) over the tri-champ Cougars (8-3, 5-2) to face WAC co-champ Fresno State on Dec. 18 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

It was speculated that it would be a no-brainer for the Las Vegas Bowl to invite LaVell Edwards and company if the Liberty Bowl passed on them, which it did earlier Monday when it took Colorado State (8-3, 5-2) to face Southern Miss in their New Year's Eve contest in Memphis.

But despite the fact BYU was the only MWC team to be ranked in the top 25 this week, and despite the fact the Cougars are by far the conference's marquee team on a national level, and despite the fact Southern Nevada and Southern California have large LDS Church populations, the Las Vegas Bowl opted to take Ron McBride's Utes, who finished the season stronger than BYU.

Utah defeated the Luke Staley-less Cougars, 20-17, in their season finale in Provo.

"It came down to those two teams at the end," said Michael Mack, a member of the Las Vegas Bowl executive committee. "It was a decision for Utah, not a decision against BYU."

BYU, which lobbied hard for the Las Vegas Bowl berth, settled instead for a Dec. 27 berth in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit where it will face the winner of this weekend's MAC championship game between undefeated Marshall and Western Michigan.

"I'd known all along that Utah was a very strong candidate, if not the front-runner, for the Las Vegas Bowl," BYU athletic director Val Hale said. "I was neither surprised nor angry. Actually, it works out pretty well overall for us."

It is believed the Cougars, who will receive $750,000 for playing in the Motor City Bowl, got major financial concessions to play in the game. BYU must purchase 12,500 tickets as part of the agreement although the MAC, Mountain West Conference and ESPN reportedly all will help bankroll part of that deal.

Utah will be required to buy 12,500 tickets as part of its Las Vegas Bowl obligation, too.

"The way Utah finished its season played a big role," Mack said. "They finished stronger and with a win over BYU. And the Salt Lake City TV market is a plus, too.

"(Utah) hasn't been to a bowl game since 1996 when they went to the Copper Bowl (in Tucson). We think they'll bring a lot of fans down for the game."

Although McBride said he was confident all along that his squad would be Las Vegas-bound, he admitted to be getting a little nervous before finally being notified Monday night.

"The waiting was tough," he said. "Everybody you talked to had a little different slant. Every 10 minutes it seemed there was another rumor.

"This is the game we wanted to be in from the beginning, and I believe our team is playing its best football."

McBride is also happy with the Fresno State bowl matchup for another reason: Bulldogs coach Pat Hill is a good friend who played for McBride at Arizona and Bulldogs' special teams coach John Baxter is McBride's son-in-law.

"This will make it so the family can be all together for Christmas," McBride said.