Sure, San Diego's a nice place to visit in late December, but at this point the BYU football team would settle for a trip to Memphis or Shreveport.
The Cougars' loss to Utah Saturday made the Holiday Bowl unlikely - even if BYU downs Fresno State this week to clinch a tie for the WAC title. The Copper Bowl can select any WAC team that isn't invited to the Holiday Bowl, but Utah and Air Force appear to be the main WAC candidates for the Dec. 27 game in Tucson.The Freedom Bowl is out of business, so the Cougars have to look east in an attempt to go to an 18th consecutive bowl. The only two games with at-large berths available are the Poulan Weedeater Independence in Shreveport, La. and the St. Jude Liberty in Memphis, Tenn.
There is still a slight chance the Cougs could get to the Holiday Bowl, but for that to happen they would need to beat Fresno State, have Hawaii down Air Force and have San Diego State beat Colorado State.
Officials from both the Independence and Liberty bowls have expressed interest in the Cougars, but BYU is by no means a lock for either one. The Liberty Bowl has already invited 8-3 East Carolina, while 6-4-1 Louisiana State is expected to be one of the teams in the Independence Bowl.
"BYU is one of the top candidates - along with Arizona State, Stanford and Iowa - for the at-large opening," said Liberty Bowl spokesman Travis Lawrence. "We won't make a final decision until the committee meets on Sunday afternoon."
Glen Krupica, the executive director of the Independence Bowl, said much the same thing. "We still have probably seven schools on the list. BYU is certainly one of the schools we're interested in. BYU has a national name and would be good for television."
Some of the other schools Krupica mentioned as possibilities include Stanford, ASU, Air Force, Colorado State, Iowa and North Carolina.
With LSU rumored to be headed to the Independence Bowl, Tiger fans have been gobbling up tickets, "so it's not quite as critical to get a team that will travel as it has been in the past," Krupica said. The Independence Bowl has sold out its general admission seats, leaving only the the 20,000 (10,000 per team) that go to the participating schools.
Of course, BYU needs to beat Fresno State this week to finish the season 7-4 overall to have any real hope of going bowling. Then they'll likely have to wait until Sunday to find out the good or bad news.
THE LEWIS CURSE: Roger and Jan Lewis of Orem have had sons involved in seven BYU-Utah games over the last nine years, but have yet to have one come out victorious. Mike Lewis, a Ute defensive lineman in 1986 and again from '90 to '92 following an LDS Church mission, was 0-4 in games against BYU. Chad Lewis, BYU's junior tight end, is now 0-3 against Utah.
"I don't know what the deal is. The Lewis family is a combined 0-7 in these games," said Mike Lewis, who wore a BYU jacket despite his U. ties to Saturday's game.
INJURY UPDATE: Matt Meservey, BYU's senior starting offensive tackle, will miss the Fresno State game after suffering a concussion against Utah. But the important thing to Meservey is that his 16-month old son Jake is alive and well. Jake was choking in his crib on stuffing from a stuffed animal early Monday morning. Meservey was able to get to his son in time to dislodge a golf ball sized piece of cotton from Jake's throat. "It made me realize there is nothing more important than life; not football, not anything," Meservey said.
Chad Lewis will miss Saturday's game due to a broken ankle.
The rest of the Cougars should be available to play Saturday, although middle linebacker Shay Muirbrook will sit out the first half. Muirbrook was ejected for fighting late in the Utah game. As punishment, he will be suspended for the first half against the Bulldogs.