It isn’t often that the Las Vegas Bowl is one of the most exciting games of the bowl season, but this year, it’s going to be must-see TV, and it’s already a hot ticket -- the game sold out in under 22 hours. That makes sense, as it matches longtime rivals Utah and BYU, who haven’t played since 2013. The Utes and the Cougars used to meet every year as Mountain West members, but now that Utah is in the Pac-12 and BYU is independent, they don’t play.
BYU vs. Utah, Las Vegas Bowl 2015: Time, TV schedule, live stream and 3 things to know
It’s a Holy War in Sin City.
Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
And in this Holy War, both teams are facing some interesting circumstances. The most interesting is that this will be Bronco Mendenhall’s last game as BYU’s coach. Mendenhall has accepted the head coaching job at Virginia, but he wanted to coach this final game. The Cougars won at Nebraska and against Boise State to start the season, but they’ve tripped up without quarterback Taysom Hill. However, Tanner Mangum has proven to be a legitimate backup in a 9-3 season.
On the other end, Utah doesn’t want to be here. The Utes were a lot of people’s top teams in the country after beating Michigan and Oregon, but a loss to USC derailed the Utes’ national championship hopes, and consecutive losses to Arizona and UCLA knocked them out of the Pac-12 Championship game. However, now they get the chance to prove themselves even more and beat their rival in a bowl game. What’s better than that?
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Utah is favored by 3 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Block U for Utah fans and Vanquish The Foe for BYU fans.
Three big things to know
1. This is the Holy War! Bowls have almost given us former rivalries in bowl games, but they rarely pull the trigger. Thanks to the Las Vegas Bowl for giving us this one.
2. BYU fans found out about their bowl destination earlier than Utah fans and got a larger ticket allotment. Will this be like a BYU home game?
3. This is Bronco Mendenhall’s last game. BYU will certainly go all-out with its game plan. Will the Cougars be more motivated?
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