Utah, Utah State and BYU all learned their bowl destinations Sunday. The Utes will face Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl, the Aggies play North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl and the Cougars take on Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Most football teams will spend the better part of December preparing for games that offer them nothing more than one more chance to compete.
Or at least, that’s how it may appear on paper.
The reality is that all of the 80 teams participating in the 41 bowl games have reasons and rewards on the line in one of sport’s most unique postseasons.