How Utah lobbied for the Holiday Bowl

[NU-Dog]

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/utah-utes/2018/12/09/holiday-bowls-selection/

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Here is another article from the other local Salt Lake City paper on the same subject. It also emphasizes the importance of an AD reaching out and making personal contacts in the lobbying effort to secure a desired bowl. (Utah was close to falling several lower slots to the Sun Bowl before the AD interceded since the Holiday originally wanted Oregon.) The articles do hint at fan input as a possible influencing factor. The more important take though is that this may prompt some rule changing to protect division winners from falling in the future. Do we have any such protection for division winners in the B1G?



https://www.deseretnews.com/article...l-bid-to-san-diego-involved-some-legwork.html

 

[zeek55]

Here is another article from the other local Salt Lake City paper on the same subject. It also emphasizes the importance of an AD reaching out and making personal contacts in the lobbying effort to secure a desired bowl. (Utah was close to falling several lower slots to the Sun Bowl before the AD interceded since the Holiday originally wanted Oregon.) The articles do hint at fan input as a possible influencing factor. The more important take though is that this may prompt some rule changing to protect division winners from falling in the future. Do we have any such protection for division winners in the B1G?



https://www.deseretnews.com/article...l-bid-to-san-diego-involved-some-legwork.html

There is no rule on where the other Big Ten division winner (championship game loser) goes.

We got a good spot at Holiday, but it was possible for us to fall quite a bit farther.


Those extra wins against Minnesota/Illinois, remaining ranked at #22 in the CFP, and the good 20,000+ we brought to Indy helped make the case for Holiday.

If we were 7-6 or 6-7, and unranked, we'd probably be on our way to Redbox or worse...

 

[gocatsgo2003]

There is no rule on where the other Big Ten division winner (championship game loser) goes.

We got a good spot at Holiday, but it was possible for us to fall quite a bit farther.


Those extra wins against Minnesota/Illinois, remaining ranked at #22 in the CFP, and the good 20,000+ we brought to Indy helped make the case for Holiday.

If we were 7-6 or 6-7, and unranked, we'd probably be on our way to Redbox or worse...

If we weren’t as good of a team we wouldn’t go to as good of a bowl?

 

[zeek55]

If we weren’t as good of a team we wouldn’t go to as good of a bowl?

Naw, I meant that for the crowd that was all "rest everyone for Minnesota/Illinois because they don't matter"; clearly those wins mattered.