Utah State will play one more game this football season, after the Aggies’ defeated New Mexico in thrilling double-overtime fashion over the weekend to become bowl eligible.
Where the Aggies will play isn’t known yet nor will it be known until Sunday when the final College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled, post conference championship games.
That hasn’t stopped numerous outlets, be it ESPN, 247 Sports, The Athletic, CBS Sports, The Sporting News, etc. from speculating on where the Aggies might end up, after they finished the regular season 6-6 overall and 4-4 in Mountain West Conference play.
Mountain West Conference bowl tie-ins
The MW has direct tie-ins to five bowl games, and doesn’t have a set order for those bowl slots, although the conference champion is all but certain to play in the LA Bowl against a Pac-12 opponent.
Bowl matchups for the conference are primarily based on finding the best possible games with the most convenient geographical locations, though that is subject to change based on what the ESPN-owned and operated bowls decide to do.
The five bowl tie-ins for the MW are:
- The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl vs. a MAC opponent.
- The LA Bowl vs. a Pac-12 opponent.
- The Isleta New Mexico Bowl vs. a Conference USA opponent.
- The Barstool Arizona Bowl vs. a MAC opponent.
- The EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl vs. an American Athletic (AAC) opponent.
The conference also has affiliation with the Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Phoenix), if MW teams are needed to fill spots.
Additionally, there are five other bowl games that could include MW teams:
- The Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl (Orlando) vs. a Group of Five opponent.
- The Frisco Bowl vs. a G5 opponent.
- The RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl vs. a G5 opponent.
- The Servpro First Responder Bowl (Dallas) vs. a G5 opponent.
Where is Utah State projected to go bowling?
Projections for the Aggies’ postseason destination this year are varied across numerous outlets, but boil down to one of five bowl games.
The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
This is by far the bowl the Aggies are most projected to play in, with ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, The Athletic, Athlon Sports, The Action Network and 247 Sports all expecting USU to travel to Boise for a Dec. 23 game (at 1:30 p.m. MST).
Who Utah State would face differs in the projections, though.
The Athletic pegs USU’s opponent as Georgia Southern (6-6 overall, 3-5 in the Sun Belt Conference).
Athlon Sports projects the Aggies to match up with Miami (Ohio), which finished the regular season 10-2 with a 7-1 record in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
Schlabach, The Action Network and 247 Sports all expect the Aggies to play Bowling Green (7-5 overall with a 5-3 record in the MAC).
EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl
Only a couple outlets project the Aggies to play in this bowl, which will be played on the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa campus (Dec. 23 at 8:30 p.m. MST).
CBS Sports has USU taking on Old Dominion (6-6 overall, 5-3 in the Sun Belt), which like Utah State was late to become bowl eligible.
College Football News, meanwhile, pits the Aggies against Rice (6-6 overall, 4-4 in the AAC).
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
ESPN’s Bonagura is the only one projecting a return to Frisco, Texas for the Aggies (they played in this same bowl in 2019).
The matchup, on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. MST, would be an intriguing one though, with USU projected to play against head coach Blake Anderson’s former school, Arkansas State.
The Red Wolves, now under the direction of Butch Jones, finished the year 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the Sun Belt.
Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
Again, only one projection has the Aggies headed to Florida, this one courtesy of Fox Sports. USU is expected to play against Georgia State, a Sun Belt program that finished the season 6-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
Military Bowl Presented by Go Bowling
Another one-off projection, this one per The Sporting News, has the Aggies headed to Annapolis, Maryland where they would play against Louisiana (6-6 overall, 3-5 in the Sun Belt) on Dec. 27 at noon MST.