BYU vs. Wyoming, Poinsettia Bowl 2016: Cougars beat Cowboys in San Diego

Both sides are right. Bowls are a cynical money-making exercise, an excuse for ESPN inventory, and an outdated way for all the wrong people to maintain some semblance of control over college football. They’re also happy, bonus football.

We are at both extremes in 2016. We once again had 80 bowl bids to give out and fewer than 80 bowl-eligible teams, a sure sign of bloat and excess. We’re also loaded with perhaps more interesting bowl matchups than we’ve ever seen.

On Dec. 21, 2015, San Diego had a high of 57 degrees with no precipitation and almost no wind.

On that day in 2014, the high was 62, again with no precipitation or wind. 2013: 56, no rain, no wind. 2012: 51, no rain, no wind.

First-year head coach Kalani Sitake earned his first bowl win as BYU’s head coach on Wednesday night in this year’s edition of the Poinsettia Bowl against Wyoming.

The 78th meeting between these two teams did not disappoint. The Cowboys were looking to beat BYU for the first time since 2003. Down 24-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Wyoming rallied to put together two unanswered touchdown drives to pull within a field goal.

BYU and Wyoming are playing in this year’s Poinsettia Bowl, and the weather is coming into play here. Although it’s being played in San Diego, there is some serious rain in the area that is affecting the players. As Wyoming was set to punt, the Cowboys’ punter lost sight of the ball and it ended in complete disaster.

BYU recovered the ball inside the Wyoming three yard line, and scored on an easy rushing touchdown to take the first lead of the night. The rain is coming down quite heavily, so it’ll be interesting to see how else the weather can affect things.

The BYU Cougars are 7-0 straight up and 6-1 against the spread in their last seven games against the Wyoming Cowboys. The Cougars are favored to extend their winning streak against the Cowboys on Wednesday, December 21 in the Poinsettia Bowl.

BYU is a 9-point favorite in San Diego at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Over the team’s last 11 games as a favorite of a touchdown or more, the Cougars are 11-0 SU and 7-4 ATS.

College football’s bowl season is upon us. A full schedule is here.

There are 40 bowl games spread from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, with the National Championship on Jan. 9. Unless you’re watching on multiple monitors and are really committed, you won’t catch all of them. (If that is your plan, more power to you.)

Also, head over here for the fully updated bowl season calendar as it fills in, from the New Orleans Bowl through the Rose Bowl. We’ll also add picks, scores, and more to that calendar over time.

This year’s Poinsettia Bowl is set to be played in San Diego on Dec. 21, making it the only major football game on the Wednesday before Christmas.

San Diego State beat Wyoming on Saturday night, 27-24 to claim the Mountain West’s championship for 2016 and a Las Vegas Bowl bid. The Aztecs had to play in Laramie with the Cowboys hosting, but they figured enough things out and won a pretty entertaining game.

It ended when SDSU stopped Wyoming on a fourth-and-20 in the game’s final minute, after the teams traded chances to win the game before that. Wyoming’s last drive included three incompletions, a holding penalty, and allowing a game-ending sack of quarterback Josh Allen.