Arizona vs. BYU

                                                                                         

Wildcats -3 vs. Cougars

Despite only two wins, BYU finds itself in a bowl game on the first day of bowl season-again. The Las Vegas Bowl is one of the four bowl games set for Saturday, the first day of the bowl season and BYU (10-2) finds itself in the game for the fourth straight time, this time facing Arizona (7-5).

Perhaps with only two losses, the Cougars deserved better, however their losses were costly ones. The first came to TCU on October 16. The unranked Frogs handled the Cougars easily, winning 32-7. The loss dropped BYU from number eight, their highest ranking all season. Finally with a chance to make a statement against archrival Utah, the Cougars fell on their face, losing 48-24 on November 22. The Utes were ranked number eight at the time and are now on the greener pastures, while BYU is in the familiar surroundings of Sin City.

Las Vegas is certainly a great place to visit and the Cougars have won their last two trips into Sam Boyd Stadium for the bowl game. For their opponents, Arizona, they are ecstatic to be there. The Wildcats enjoyed their first winning season since 1998 and capped a good regular season with a victory over archrival Arizona State on December 6. This will be the first bowl game for the program since they beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl following the 1998 season to capture a 12-1 record.

The game should be a high-octane gun-slinging affair which befits the western style of Las Vegas. Both teams have great signal callers able to sling the ball. Max Hall leads BYU and helped the team climb to 19th in the nation is scoring with 35.3 points per game and 17th with total offense at 448.8 yards per contest. The Wildcats Willie Tuitama had a stellar year in the pass happy Pac-10 by finishing second in the conference with 2763 yards and 21 scores.

Arizona actually has quite a stellar defense with 302.1 yards given up, but have struggled away from home. In their five road games, they have given up 30.6 points per game, while at home they have limited opponents to 14.7 points.

It is a rarity for two teams to have played each other many times compete in a postseason contest, but this will be the third straight season that BYU and Arizona have met with the teams splitting the pair. This will be the 22nd game between the programs which used to reside in the Western Athletic Conference.

The two game winning streak in the Las Vegas Bowl followed a four-game bowl losing streak for BYU. The Cougars have attended 26 bowl games and has gone 9-16-1 in those contests. This will be the Wildcats' 14th bowl game and have won five and tied one of the previous 13.

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