Please complete the following 10 sentences about BYU (and the Alamo Bowl) with the best possible choice …
1. Even as the significance of a lot of bowl games has receded in recent years, postseason games other than those attached to the newly expanded college football playoff, the reason BYU’s performance in Saturday’s Alamo Bowl is so important is because …
a) the Cougars are playing Colorado.
b) the game is in Texas, a prime recruiting area for Big 12 talent.
c) BYU lost two of its last three regular-season games and it can’t abide making it three of four now.
d) the Cougars might admire Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett, but they’d prefer to avoid their fate at the Alamo.
2. BYU has an all-time winning football record of 617-444-27, but its success in 40 bowl games is …
a) less than stellar.
b) in need of improvement.
c) embarrassing.
d) just 17-22-1.
e) all of the above.
f) of no consequence because bowls don’t mean squat and never should have; they are exclusive little businesses that benefit the people who run them.
3. The Cougars’ first bowl win, after four consecutive losses, came in …
a) the 1947 Pineapple Bowl.
b) the 1962 Shamrock Meats Bowl.
c) the 1954 Peat Moss Bowl.
d) the 1980 Holiday Bowl.
4. BYU has played in two previous bowl games in Texas, both of them wins in the …
a) 1997 Cotton Bowl over Kansas State.
b) 2011 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl over Tulsa.
c) 1997 Pace Chunky Salsa Bowl over Texas-El Paso.
d) 2002 Jalapeno Chile Pepper Bowl over the University of Guadalajara.
e) a and b.
5. The Cougars’ win-loss record in their last 10 bowl games is …
a) 2-8.
b) 0-10.
c) 3-7.
d) 5-5.
6. Beating Colorado would be especially meaningful because …
a) Deion Sanders is the Buffs’ coach.
b) receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter won the Heisman.
c) quarterback Shadeur Sanders will likely be the No. 1 pick in the coming NFL draft.
d) both teams play in the Big 12.
e) BYU is Colorado’s biggest rival in Utah.
f) Utah coach Kyle Whittingham made it a point after the Utes had lost to then-unbeaten BYU and to Colorado in consecutive weeks in November to mention that the Buffs were without question the best team Utah had played this season.
g) BYU hasn’t defeated a bowl opponent that at the time of the game was from a power league since downing Oregon State in the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl.
h) the skiing/snow is better in Utah than Colorado.
i) all of the above.
7. BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff has a real chance to shine a bright light and positive attention on him in San Antonio because …
a) he’s been nearly perfect in the past few games, never throwing, say, huge interceptions against Kansas and Arizona State that led to defeats, never changing plays at the line of scrimmage that brought about interceptions, never costing the Cougars a real shot at playing in the Big 12 championship game or the CFP.
b) he’s a better quarterback than Shadeur Sanders, and this is his chance to prove what is obvious.
c) he, too, might play in the NFL.
d) none of the above.
8. Millions of college football fans will tune in for the Alamo Bowl primarily on account of the fact that …
a) Deion Sanders is the Buffs’ coach (is there an echo in here?).
b) Travis Hunter won the Heisman (yeah, there is an echo in here).
c) Shadeur Sanders will be the top pick in the NFL draft … draft … draft … draft.
d) BYU, particularly its explosive offense, is a monstrous draw among CFB fans from coast to coast.
e) it’s anticipated to be the best bowl game that isn’t part of the playoff.
f) a, b, c, and d.
9. BYU and Colorado have played against each other in the college postseason …
a) twice, having split their two decisions.
b) three times, in the Holiday Bowl, the Independence Bowl and the Liberty Bowl.
c) once, in the Freedom Bowl, Colorado having won.
d) once, in the Freedom Bowl, BYU having won.
10. BYU’s season will be seen as a monumental success …
a) win or lose in the Alamo Bowl, because nobody expected the Cougars to do what they’ve already done — win 10 games.
b) if the Cougars win this game, capping a season that featured a 9-0 start and two consecutive victories at the end.
c) not at all if the Cougars lose this game; there will be little to shout about, considering their face plant in three of their last four games.
d) come what may because the Cougars beat the Utes at Rice-Eccles.
