An invitation to play Texas in the Alamo Bowl on New Year’s Eve is Utah’s biggest achievement of the football program’s Pac-12 era. It also represents the Utes’ biggest disappointment.
A berth in the College Football Playoff — or, at a minimum, the fabled Rose Bowl — was available to Utah, with a No. 5 ranking going into the Pac-12 championship game vs. Oregon. The Utes were relegated to a bowl below the New Year’s Six level after a 37-15 loss, although the Alamo Bowl is the Pac-12′s highest-ranked affiliate ever to select them.