Las Vegas Bowl Week 8 Projection; Utah vs. LSU
Eight weeks of college football are complete, and with the Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium less than a month away, here’s a projection for the matchup between teams from the Pac-12 and the Southeastern Conference.
Projection: No. 14 Utah vs. No. 18 LSU
Both of these teams have been in the projection before.
The Utes had a bye, but were impacted by No. 12 UCLA’s 45-30 loss to No. 8 Oregon. The defeat puts the Bruins on the edge of the New Year’s Six bowls, which makes them more likely for the Alamo Bowl, for now, with a game against No. 10 USC remaining.
LSU came up with a second consecutive big win this week, defeating previously unbeaten No. 15 Ole Miss 45-20. The Tigers enter their bye week at 6-2 with only one conference loss.
Up next:
In addition, there are several games in the SEC East to watch this week, but Ole Miss versus Texas A&M has the most relevance for the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Rebels need to get back on track after losing to the Tigers. Ole Miss has a difficult schedule to finish the season. Texas A&M has lost three consecutive games and a win keeps them in contention for a Las Vegas Bowl berth.
Thursday’s game between Utah and Washington State is the most important game in the Pac-12 for the Las Vegas Bowl The Utes need wins to keep pace with USC, UCLA and Oregon. Additionally, the two teams behind Utah in the Pac-12 standings — Washington and Oregon State — both have byes this week.
Contact Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.