Point still stands. Having said that, we were better positioned and more deserving towards the end of 2001 and while in the moment of being deserving of it, the Fiesta Bowl publicly said they didn’t want us. It was only after that declaration that we went out and played how we did at Hawaii and followed it up with Staley breaking his leg.

Take only 2001 and 2020 and it paints a pretty clear picture that while we may be a national fan base, travel well, have brand recognition, etc. the fan base still probably overinflates our desirability of some entities (shocking that a fan base would have this perception of their own team, right?).