Utah State in the NY6? Never Say Never.

Right now, odds are the G5’s New Year’s Six bowl bid will go to either UCF, Fresno State, or the Aggies of Utah State.

For UCF, it’s the usual and, in their opinion, not what they truly deserve. For Fresno State and Utah State, it’s a chance to reach the highest peak in either programs history. We’ve got another piece on Fresno State’s chances to get there. I’d like to talk about the Aggies’ path to the NY6.

Let’s start off with how can Utah State get to the big bowl. They’re going to need to do two things:

1. Win out: Win the remaining games (SJSU, @Colorado State, @Boise, MWC Champ. Game vs presumably Fresno). Win these games, and win them convincingly. Now I’m not saying USU has to dismantle Boise and Fresno by 60 apiece, because that just won’t happen. They CAN do that, however, to SJSU and CSU. Do this, handle the big boys from Idaho and Cali, and just hope for one more thing to happen. That thing?

2. Hope UCF loses (or somehow makes the CFP): I hate to say it, but both Fresno and Utah State stand no chance of the NY6 bid if UCF finishes off their season without a blemish. UCF ends the year against Navy, Cincinnati, and USF. Navy and USF are most certainly wins, while Cincy can certainly give the Knights trouble. That UCF offense is too powerful, so either Cincy or whoever they face in the AAC Championship game has to deal with that in order to win. Either they lose or by some incredible miracle they make the Playoff, leaving the G5 NY6 bid open. That’s not going to happen, so yeah, hope for a loss!

Next, let’s discuss the impact this could have on Utah State and, to do that, let us look back at the bowl history of Utah State Aggies football:

- 1946 Raisin Bowl – 20-0 Loss to San Jose State

- 1947 Grape Bowl – 35-21 Loss to Pacific

- 1960 Sun Bowl – 20-13 Loss to new Mexico State

- 1961 Gotham Bowl – 24-9 Loss to Baylor

- 1993 Las Vegas Bowl – 42-33 Win over Ball State

- 1997 Humanitarian Bowl – 35-19 Loss to Cincinnati

- 2011 Potato Bowl – 24-23 Loss to Ohio

- 2012 Potato Bowl – 41-15 Win over Toledo

- 2013 Poinsettia Bowl – 21-14 Win over Northern Illinois

- 2014 New Mexico Bowl – 21-6 Win over UTEP

- 2015 Potato Bowl – 23-21 Loss to Akron

- 2017 Arizona Bowl – 26-20 Loss to New Mexico State

If I hear or see the word “potato” one more time I might go insane.

Seriously though, that was painful to type. Utah State’s bowl history has not been very kind to them. That three year win streak makes things better though! As you can see, USU has not played in a bowl game nearly as prestigious as one of the NY6 contests. Making it there would be a magnificent achievement for the Aggies and Head Coach Matt Wells.

All in all, this race will comes down to whoever wins the Mountain West (Fresno or USU) and UCF. Maybe UAB too? If we want to see the Aggies on New Year’s, we have to hope for a stumble by UCF and a dominating finish to the season for the Aggies. Both are possible, it’s only a matter of time now.

This is going to be fun.