Las Vegas Bowl had no choice but the Bruins

By Dick Harmon
Deseret Morning News
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 12:20 a.m. MST
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Tina Kunzer-Murphy is a bright, energetic bowl executive in Las Vegas. She not only has political savvy but is iron-weld connected in that huge entertainment city. In a former life, she certainly was the head cheerleader.

She loves BYU. The Cougars have taken her Las Vegas Bowl to a new level the past two years.

A year ago, Cougars fans jammed into Sam Boyd Stadium to see BYU beat Oregon, making it the largest gathering to ever witness a team sporting event in the state of Nevada. She witnessed Blue Power again on Oct. 13 when 65 percent of the stadium for a UNLV home game was filled with BYU folks.

So, it's understandable, friends say, that she was a little taken back, when Sunday and Monday BYU fans deluged her with passionate and sometimes biting criticism over selection of UCLA to play the Cougars in the Dec. 22 Pioneer Vision Las Vegas Bowl.

She personally responded to every complaint she got. Most fans understood, once she explained the facts. Others, who could be placed in the "idiot category," she just let go, relegating them to their own blue delusions.

By contract, the Pac-10's No. 5 team has a spot in the Las Vegas bowl against whichever MWC team the Las Vegas Bowl decides it wants. The bowl rotates the Pac-10 No. 4 and No. 5 and this time it was UCLA at No 5.

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While Kunzer-Murphy will not divulge all the back-room dealings that went on trying to get BYU a bowl opponent the Cougars had not already played, that effort proved impossible.

"The committee and I did everything we could. Now, it's time to move on and try and stage the best event for the best possible enjoyment of fans who visit our city," she said Monday afternoon.

Right on.

The fact remains, while BYU has put together two outstanding seasons, the system is broken. It is what it is for a couple more years, until everyone rewrites pacts.

Much to the chagrin of folks in Las Vegas, UCLA fired head coach Karl Dorrell Monday. Still, Kunzer-Murphy bulls ahead, trying to make it a great bowl and game. The same thing happened in 2002 when UCLA fired Bob Toledo and still edged New Mexico.

The astonishing twists that occurred in the Pac-10 to turn UCLA and others inside out in 2007 was an exact mirror of what transpired in college football.

That's the way things are.

Another fact remains. When it comes to bowls, BYU has plenty to prove.

If the current system calls for the Cougars to fight a team that isn't a league champion, a team they've played before, they ought to do all they can to balance the school's dismal 8-16-1 post season record.

That mark is nothing to get puffed up about.

Another fact. BYU traditionally struggles against the Pac-10 and has a 29-56 all-time effort against teams from that conference.

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Recent comments

A 50% increase in ticket price is a "small premium..."?...

LVCoug | Dec. 7, 2007 at 5:31 p.m.

Here's an exact quote from an official BYU Athletic Dept Release...

Anonymous | Dec. 6, 2007 at 9:24 a.m.

I can't think of two more suitable teams than BYU and UCLA for...

USC Trojan | Dec. 5, 2007 at 6:25 p.m.