BYU is Cotton Bowl bound
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For the first time in its football bowl history, the Cougars of Brigham Young University have been invited to play on New Year's Day in the tradition-rich Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Although not a member of the Alliance, the Cotton Bowl is considered one of the major bowls of college football. "When it was all said and done," said Rick Baker, Cotton Bowl executive director, "it was hard to overlook that BYU [was] ranked fifth and . . . WAC champions."BYU won the Western Athletic Conference championship Dec. 7 by defeating the Wyoming Cowboys in an overtime thriller, 28-25, at Sam Boyd Stadium in the inaugural WAC Championship football game in Las Vegas, Nev.
The win earned BYU a 13-1 season record and vaulted the Cougars into the top 5 in the national polls. The victory came after Ethan Pochman kicked a 20-yard field goal as the last second ticked off the clock to tie the game at 25-25 during regulation.
In overtime, a sack by BYU's Henry Bloomfield and a pair of incomplete passes set up a 47-yard field goal attempt by Wyoming that fell short and to the left.
BYU took over and after three straight runs, Pochman - a soccer player who began kicking field goals for the first time this year - nailed a 32-yard field goal to secure the championship.
With a No. 5 ranking and winning the WAC, BYU figured to be a prominent candidate for the Fiesta Bowl, which is one of the three bowls comprising the newly formed Alliance. The Alliance was formed as a means of preserving the many football bowls while at the same time pitting highly ranked teams against each other to determine a national champion.
BYU, however, was passed over by Fiesta Bowl representatives during their selection meeting Dec. 8. The bowl committee instead chose Penn State to play against Texas in the $8.5 million bowl. The Cotton Bowl pays out $2 million. BYU will face Kansas State (9-2) on national television on Jan. 1 at 12:30 p.m. EST on CBS.
