Y. Lands Motor City Bowl, Utes Get Vegas Bid
Salt Lake Tribune 30Nov99 S3
By Michael C. Lewis: Salt Lake Tribune

Late Monday the BYU Cougar football team landed an invitation to play at the Motor City Bowl on December 27th. The bowl will pit BYU against either unbeated No. 11 on the AP poll Marshall or Western Michigan, depending on which team wins their game on Saturday. The bid is a disappointment for BYU, which expected to have an invitation to the Liberty Bowl, reserved for the champion of the Mountain West Conference.

But BYU lost its last two games, leaving it in a three-way tie for the championship. Technically, based on the BCS rules, BYU still should have been given the bid, but since it lost its last two games and because press earlier in the season quoted BYU players as wanting to go to a more prestigious bowl, the bid was given to Colorado State. The other team tieing for the Mountain West Conference Championship, Utah, was invited to the Las Vegas Bowl, reserved for the runner-up in the Mountain West Conference.

Adding to the Cougar's disappointment is that the Motor City Bowl is held in Pontiac Michigan's Silverdome. The Bowl pays only $750,000 minimum to participants, and demands that the teams purchase at least 12,500 tickets at $40 each. Assistant athletic director Duff Tittle says that the Cougars will loose money on the game, "We would take a bath. Do the math, on $40 a seat." But the Tribune says that a deal was worked out in phone meetings on Monday, but BYU athletic director Val Hale refused to divulge the terms of the deal, saying only that "a couple of different things" had been arranged to make the trip more financially palatable.