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PROVO — Since ending its 2014 football season in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, BYU’s bowl destination for 2015 has remained a mystery.
The mystery cleared up a little Thursday morning.
BYU announced an agreement with both the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl for the 2015 season. The Cougars will play in one of the games following the 2015 season, unless they are not bowl eligible or they are selected for a spot in the College Football Playoff, and move the other bowl arrangement to the 2019 season.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in these two bowl games,” said BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe in a statement. “We look forward to returning to Las Vegas and Honolulu. We are fortunate to have a large fan base in both areas and it will be great to renew the many longtime friendships we’ve enjoyed in these two cities.”
BYU has a lengthy history with the Las Vegas Bowl from its days as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars were the Mountain West’s bowl entrants 2005-2009, going 3-2 in their five straight trips against what was then the Pac-10.
BYU’s bowl history with Hawaii is less storied, playing only one postseason game in Honolulu in program history. The Cougars lost to Kansas 23-20 in the 1992 Aloha Bowl. But BYU’s history with the University of Hawaii gives the Cougars a geographic history with the islands, dating back to both teams' participation in the old Western Athletic Conference — and BYU sister school BYU-Hawaii gives the Cougars a significant fan base in the 50th state.
Both bowl games are owned and operated by ESPN, the exclusive broadcast partner of BYU football. Dates, times and broadcast details will be announced at a later date.
