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Mountain West Conference Bowl Matchups Set
BYU, Colorado State, TCU, Utah gearing up for postseason.
Dec. 5, 2005 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - For the first time in league history, the Mountain West Conference is sending four teams to bowl games as BYU, Colorado State, TCU and Utah have been invited to the postseason. TCU has committed to play in the EV1.net Houston Bowl on Dec. 31 at Reliant Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Horned Frogs will face Iowa State, which finished the regular season 7-4 (4-4 Big 12). The Cyclones will be the second Big 12 opponent of the season for the Mountain West Conference champion Horned Frogs, who opened the 2005 campaign with a 17-10 win at Oklahoma. TCU and Iowa State had one common opponent this season - Army. The Frogs posted a 38-17 home win (Oct. 15) over the Black Knights, while the Cyclones took a 28-21 decision (Sept. 23) in West Point, N.Y. Iowa State was the first opponent TCU coach Gary Patterson faced in his eight-year tenure on campus. The Frogs and Cyclones last met in the 1998 season opener for both teams with Patterson in his first year as the TCU defensive coordinator. The Frogs used a 17-point fourth quarter to rally for a 31-21 victory. TCU holds a 2-0 series lead over Iowa State. The lone other contest between the teams was a 27-10 Frog victory in the 1995 season opener in Fort Worth. Currently ranked No. 13 in the BCS rankings, the Horned Frogs finished the season as the MWC champions with an 8-0 mark in league play. TCU is replacing the contracted selection from the Southeastern Conference, which was unable to qualify enough bowl-eligible teams. One of only four teams in the nation with a 10-1 record (Penn State, Oregon, West Virginia), the Horned Frogs posted wins over five bowl-eligible teams, including a season-opening victory at then-No. 7 Oklahoma. TCU has been to a bowl game five of the past six years and is one of only seven Division I football programs (Boise State, Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, USC) to post at least 10 wins three of the last four seasons. BYU and Colorado State tied for second in the MWC with identical 5-3 records in league play and 6-5 overall. The Cougars will play in their first Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl and are making their first postseason appearance since the 2001 Liberty Bowl. BYU, 7-1 all-time at Sam Boyd Stadium, will face California, which finished the regular season 7-4 (4-4 Pac-10). This will be the third all-time meeting between the Golden Bears and the Cougars as BYU won games in 1999 and 2001. The Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN. The Rams are headed to their ninth bowl in the past 12 seasons and will play Navy (7-4) in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. The game is scheduled for Dec. 22 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, and kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2. The Rams have visited San Diego three times to play in the Holiday Bowl. They were defeated by Michigan in 1994 (24-14) and Kansas State in 1995 (54-21), and beat Missouri in 1997 (35-24). The Rams and Midshipmen will meet for the first time on the gridiron in the Poinsettia Bowl. Utah accepted an invitation to play in the fourth-annual Emerald Bowl against No. 24 Georgia Tech, whose 7-4 regular season record includes victories over Top-10 teams Auburn and Miami. The game will be played in San Francisco's SBC Park on Dec. 29 at 1:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. The Emerald Bowl invitation marks the fourth time in the last five years the Utes have played in a postseason game. Utah, which finished tied for fourth in the MWC at 4-4 (6-5 overall), is 4-0 in bowl games since 1999, including last year's 35-7 victory over Pittsburgh in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Overall, 8-of-9 MWC members have been to a bowl game at least once in the last five years. Since 1999, the MWC is 9-9 in bowl games. Below is a look at the 2005 MWC Bowl Games:
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