Fort Collins – Colorado State’s bowl hopes are slim, but not quite “none.”
First, the Rams must shake off Saturday’s 30-10 meltdown against San Diego State and defeat UNLV, the last-place team in the Mountain West Conference. The conference has three bowl-eligible teams: champion TCU, (10-1, 8-0), second-place BYU (6-4, 5-2) and New Mexico (6-4, 4-3), which is sharing third place with CSU (5-5, 4-3).
The league has three bowl slots – the Las Vegas and Poinsettia bowls, both Dec. 22, and the Dec. 29 Emerald Bowl. No. 15-ranked TCU is nationally marketable but can go elsewhere only if the MWC fills the above three slots. The Las Vegas Bowl, with the first pick of the three, has indicated a preference for BYU.
TCU’s competition for the open Liberty Bowl berth is No. 16 Fresno State, which plays at top-ranked USC on Saturday.
Other possibilities for TCU are the Houston Bowl, which may not have a qualifying Southeastern Conference team, and the Fort Worth Bowl if the Big 12 comes up short. Utah (5-5) would hurt the Rams’ chances by becoming bowl-eligible with a victory Saturday at BYU.
Footnote
CSU punter Jimmie Kaylor, who punted seven times for a 49.7-yard average, moved up to second nationally with a 45.87-yard average. He trails only Wake Forest’s Ryan Plackemeier, at 47.24.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
