My thoughts are is it comes down to ratings and match ups. Considering the schools invited are required to buy a certain allotment of tickets and some locals will buy tickets, physical attendance means nothing. Paid attendance is a factor, but considering the sponsors have ponied up their money and - as I mentioned - a certain amount of tickets will already be sold, it is not the ultimate factor.

ESPN owns both bowls. If it feels that a BYU vs Temple or Houston match up is more intriguing than a BYU vs ASU/WSU/Cal/UCLA match up, then it is off to Honolulu. The AAC probably would prefer to have Temple/Houston play a good opponent in its bowl game, so I see them pushing for a match up between one of those schools and BYU. Also, the MW champion is not NY6 eligible so it will push to have their champ play in Vegas (larger payout) unless the Cactus Bowl opens up. If Kansas State wins Friday then the Cactus Bowl is off the table for the MW and it will push for the MW champion. If Kansas State losses then the MW will be happy to slot SDSU into the Cactus Bowl, which has a higher payout than Vegas, and Vegas becomes a lock for BYU. Of course, if a BYU vs Utah match up becomes an option, all bets are off (or on if you live in Vegas) and the Holy War moves to Sin City.

Ultimately ESPN will push for the match up that gives the highest ratings. Vegas will get decent ratings regardless because it is a Saturday afternoon game on ABC that kicks off bowl season and football junkies may watch anyway. It may want a BYU vs Temple match up because that may get more ratings than that bowl normally gets on Christmas Eve. The AAC and MW obviously will push what is best for them and ESPN will push for what they want. Both bowls want us this year for different reasons and I will be happy with either. I think we will probably have more clarity Saturday night after the MW championship and the Friday KSU/WV game.