Watch Video From the Bowl Announcement Press Conference.
PROVO -- After winning its second straight league championship with a perfect 8-0 record, the 17th ranked BYU Cougars have accepted an invitation to play UCLA in the 16th Annual Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 22. The invitation marks the third straight appearance for the Cougars in Las Vegas and the team's 26th overall bowl appearance since the 1974 season.
"I'm really proud of our football team," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Winning a conference championship, going undefeated for the second straight season, and earning an invitation to a bowl game is a tribute to how hard this team has worked, how they have responded and how well they have listened. I believe this is a testament to the kind of young men we have here. This will be our third trip to the Las Vegas Bowl, our second as conference champions. With a new group of players, a new group of leadership, I have to give our team a tremendous amount of credit for getting this program where it is today. I couldn't be more proud of them."
The Cougars, winners of nine straight games, will take on UCLA. The Bruins finished fifth in the Pac-10 with a 6-6 overall record and a mark of 5-4 against league opponents. UCLA defeated BYU earlier this season in Pasadena, 27-17. The game will mark the second of three times the two teams are scheduled to meet within a calendar year. UCLA will travel to Provo on September 6, 2008.
"We are excited about our football team and the great things it has accomplished over the past three seasons," BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe said. "Coach Mendenhall, his staff and the players deserve a tremendous amount of credit for getting this program where it is today."
The Cougars will be making their third straight appearance in a bowl game for the first time since the Cougars went to three straight Holiday Bowls from 1989 through 1991. Mendenhall is the first coach in BYU football history to take his first three teams to a bowl game.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN, beginning at 5 p.m. (PST).