Now the Rams wait.
Colorado State capped the 2015 regular season Saturday night with a 34-31 victory at Fresno State, securing a winning season for first-year coach Mike Bobo.
For the third straight season, the Rams are bowl eligible, and the Mountain West has more qualified teams for the postseason (seven) than bowl ties (six), thanks to BYU taking a place in the Las Vegas Bowl or the Hawaii Bowl. But unlike in 2013, when San Jose State was left out, MW associate commissioner for communications Javan Hedlund said all teams will find a landing spot.
“That’s great for the league,” Hedlund said. “All three years we’ve had 12 teams in two six-team divisions, we’ve had seven bowl-eligible teams. Having the opportunity to place all seven will be great for the league.”
It will happen, because with 80 teams needed to fill 40 bowls, the NCAA does not have enough qualified teams. As of Sunday, only 75 were eligible, with three more (Kansas State, Georgia State and South Alabama) still having a chance. That means some bowls will draw from a pool of teams with 5-7 records to fill the gaps. By rule, bowl-eligible teams have to be placed first.
The Rams (7-5) don’t care where they play, just that they are playing in the postseason. They’ll find out this Sunday, after the announcements for the College Football Playoff and at-large bids are announced.
“I’m just happy we’re going to a bowl for my senior year, and I know the guys are, so we’re thankful for anything,” said Joe Hansley, the star of Saturday’s win with his three-touchdown performance, two of which came on first-half punt returns.
Before Colorado State can start making travel plans, the Rams must let things play out. Air Force and San Diego State are up first, meeting this Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium for the conference title. Then the Las Vegas Bowl gets to decide between the champion and BYU. If BYU doesn’t play in Las Vegas, it goes to the Hawaii Bowl.
From there, if the Cactus Bowl slot is open, that game picks next. After that, the conference and the bowls will make the decisions.
In that regard, the one decision that probably has been made is New Mexico will play in the New Mexico Bowl to help draw a bigger crowd.
Until then, the Rams have other things to cover, such as getting healthy. Bobo and his staff will hit the road this week to recruit.
