by staff–4 Dec ’16
The Wyoming Cowboys are going bowling and the destination is San Diego, Calif., as the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Committee formally invited the Wyoming Cowboys on Sunday. The game will be played on Dec. 21 and will kick off at 7 p.m., Mountain Time (6 p.m., Pacific Time) from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
The opponent for the Cowboys will be an old rival — the BYU Cougars. Wyoming will enter the game with an 8-5 overall record this season after playing for the Mountain West Conference title on Saturday. BYU is 8-4 on the season as an FBS Independent. The Cowboys and Cougars will be meeting for the first time since the 2010 season. Wyoming and BYU have played 77 previous times in the two schools histories.
“The last time Wyoming played in a San Diego bowl game was 1988,” said Mark Neville, executive director of the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. “It’s been way too long. We can’t wait to roll out the red carpet for the Cowboys football team and all their fans.”
“We are extremely excited for our team and our fans to be playing in the Poinsettia Bowl,” said University of Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman. “We want to thank the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Committee for inviting us to this year’s game.
“Coach (Craig) Bohl and his staff have done an incredible job of bringing Wyoming Football back to the top of the Mountain West Conference, and this is a great way for our seniors to end their college careers. This senior class has led the resurgence in Cowboy Football.
“It is a great opportunity to play an old rival in BYU. For our fans, I know this match-up will be one they will be very excited about. As with past bowl games we’ve been involved with, we look forward to seeing a great number of our fans in San Diego on Dec. 21.
“We encourage our fans to go through our UW Athletics Ticket Office to get the best available seats to this year’s game.”
“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by our players and our coaches,” said Craig Bohl, Wyoming head football coach. “Having the Poinsettia Bowl select us to play in their game is a true honor and a great reward for our team. We are appreciative to the Poinsettia Bowl Committee for this opportunity to represent the state of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference.
“It is also a great reward for our fans, who have been with us all season on this tremendous journey in bringing Cowboy Football back to a prominent position in college football.
“For our players and coaches, I couldn’t be prouder of them. To all of our players, I want to thank them for staying the course with us these last three years. It was their never-say-die attitude that has brought us to this point of earning a bowl bid.
“BYU is a program that Wyoming has a long and rich tradition with, and I anticipate a great game between two very good football teams. We can’t wait to see our Wyoming faithful in San Diego later this month.”
Wyoming’s 2016 season saw the Cowboys capture the Mountain Division title in the Mountain West Conference and play San Diego State for the MW Championship before falling by three points, 27-24. Along the way to its 8-4 record and 6-2 mark in the Mountain West, Wyoming defeated two Top 25 ranked teams. The Cowboys defeated then No. 13 ranked Boise State by a score of 30-28 on Oct. 29 and defeated the then No. 24 ranked San Diego State Aztecs, in the regular-season meeting between the two teams, by a score of 34-33 on Nov. 19.
This will be Wyoming’s 14th bowl appearance and first appearance in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. The Cowboys have an overall bowl record of 6-7 and last appeared in a bowl game in 2011. The Cowboys did play in two Holiday Bowls in San Diego back in 1987 and ‘88 as champions of the Western Athletic Conference.
Tickets to the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl may be purchased through the UW Athletics Ticket Office: by going online at GoWyo.gom/tickets; via email at tickets@uwyo.edu; by calling the UW Athletics Ticket Office at 307-766-7220; or by stopping by the Ticket Office on the west side of the Arena-Auditorium.
Specific ticket information for the Poinsettia Bowl will also be released as soon as it becomes available.
