MWC Weekly Gridiron Release

San Diego State closes out the regular season in Hawaii.

San Diego State heads to Hawaii to close out the regular season this Saturday.
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Nov. 29, 2005

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -

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Weekly Report
San Diego State is the lone Mountain West team scheduled to play Saturday, Dec. 3. The Aztecs conclude the regular season at Hawai`i and look to finish with an even 6-6 record for the second time in the last three seasons.

TCU Claims Mountain West Title
TCU's outright Mountain West Conference title is its first in nearly 50 years. The Horned Frogs (10-1, 8-0), are playing their first season in the MWC and last won an outright league title in 1958 as member of the Southwest Conference. TCU shared SWC titles in 1959 and 1994 and won a piece of championships in the Western Athletic Conference (1999, 2000) and Conference USA (2002).

TCU Boasts Nation's Third-Longest Win Streak
TCU currently is tied with LSU for the third-longest active win streak in Division I-A behind only USC (33) and Texas (18). The Horned Frog nine-game win streak is their longest since winning 12 in a row in a stretch that spanned the final two games in 2002 and the opening 10 contests in 2003.

Attendance Records
The Mountain West Conference set an attendance record in 2005, averaging 35,275 fans in 48 home contests played. The old mark was 35,213 set in 2004. This is the first time in league history the MWC has posted back-to-back season attendance averages of 35,000-plus. The total attendance of 1,693,216 for all games also ranks as the highest in conference history, surpassing the 2003 mark of 1,667,548 in 49 home contests.

Bowl Facts
Collectively, eight of the nine members have participated in a bowl game the last six years, led by Colorado State and TCU with five appearances each in that span. Six of the nine members have won bowl games since 2000, including victories by Utah (Tostitos Fiesta Bowl) and Wyoming (Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl) last season.

Bowl Report
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. New Mexico also is bowl eligible, but is currently awaiting a possible bowl bid. The Lobos had a conditional invitation to play in the Fort Worth Bowl, but both the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA have enough teams to fill the bowl's contractual obligations.

TCU has committed to play in the EV1.net Houston Bowl on Dec. 31 at Reliant Stadium against an opponent from the Big 12 Conference. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT. 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 three teams in the nation currently with a 10-1 record (Penn State, Oregon), the Horned Frogs posted wins over five bowl-eligible teams, including a season-opening victory at then-No. 7 Oklahoma. TCU has appeared in 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 a Pac-10 Conference or at-large opponent. The Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. PT.

The Rams are headed to their ninth bowl in the past 11 seasons and will play Navy (6-4) in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. The game is scheduled for Dec. 22 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, and kick at 7:30 p.m. PT. 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).

Utah accepted an invitation to play in the fourth-annual Emerald Bowl against an ACC team. The game will be played in San Francisco's SBC Park on Dec. 29 at 1:30 p.m. PT. 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.