The Las Vegas Bowl is sort of like the Pinstripe Bowl in that it has rapidly moved up the bowl pecking order. It’s a bowl before Christmas that features an 8 win team from a power conference (Utah Utes) vs. a seven win team from another power conference (Northwestern Wildcats). That is impressive for a bowl staged on Festivus, or Christmas Eve Eve.
As a “geriatric miilenial” or member of the “Oregon Trail generation,” I am old enough to remember when bowls were almost never staged before the Yuletide, and I’ve spent my whole life never caring one bit about those very early cycle bowl games…until now.
Now that Northwestern is in one, let’s preview this Sin City matchup!
Sat., Dec. 23, 4:30 pm PT/6:30 pm CT: Las Vegas Bowl
Weather: Dome
Las Vegas Bowl a Metaphor for Economic Shifts, Sports Industry Changes
The fact that the Las Vegas Bowl is rising in importance and prestige is reflective of what has happened with the city of Las Vegas, and its increasing presence in the American sports-industrial complex. Oakland lost their Major League Baseball team, the A’s, to Vegas a few weeks ago.
They lost their National Football League team, the Raiders, to Vegas in 2017. The Vegas Golden Knights, of the NHL, were founded in 2017.
So they now have a franchise in three of the American big four sports leagues.
Not to mention a first class venue, in Allegiant Stadium (where this game will be staged), for hosting major sporting events, including the very next Super Bowl, the first El Clasico on American soil, the Pac-12 Championship, Gold Cup, Copa America, Pro Bowl etc. etc. etc.
It may look like what would happen if the DeathStar had sex with a Roomba, but it’s a state-of-the-art facility, with world class amenities, in what has become the new American sports mecca.
It’s astounding when you consider that Las Vegas
a.) had no major pro sports teams until just a few years ago
b.) was a scarcely populated, remote outpost in the middle of absolutely nowhere until the mob built it up in the mid-1900s. Congrats to the mob, as they manufactured paradise. Las Vegas, as a city, is more relevant than ever, since the legalization of sports betting in 2018.
While Vegas has legal sports betting for a long time previously, national legalization has led to normalization, and with it explosive growth in the sector.
As de-industrialization increases in America, places like Oakland will continue declining. And the money will instead flow into industries like gambling, Vegas’ #1 industry.
Not saying that it is good, or right, but it is what it is.
Northwestern Wildcats (7-5) Preview
David Braun is the anti- Deion Sanders. He took a program that went 1-11 last season and guided them to a bowl game and a 7-5 record.
Braun got very little national pub, unlike Coach Prime, and his press conferences are not entertainment-driven, i.e. the opposite of Neon Deion. He’s substance, not hype.
Braun, who never held a coaching job of any sort at the power five level entering this season, was rewarded for taking a program rocked by a hazing scandal and prodigious levels of losing, and turning them into winners with a Big Ten Coach of the Year award.
He also had the interim tag removed from his job title. For all who wrote off the Northwestern Wildcats football program, saying they would go back to the dark ages now that their most iconic figure of all-time, Pat Fitzgerald, was fired in disgrace- well, you were wrong.
NU brings a five game bowl winning streak to the Las Vegas Bowl, and they also won the bowl matchup (2018 Holiday) between these two sides. NU probably the edge in both quarterback and overall defensive unit in this one.
Utah Utes (8-4) Preview
Kyle Whittingham, overall, has a great bowl game resume, but he’s lost his last four. Utah enters this match-up reeling from injuries, especially in the secondary.
Their pass defense can be exploited, and Northwestern knows how to do that well considering the very last game that they played.
Northwestern was able to beat their rival Illinois on Thanksgiving weekend, largely due to their easily taking advantage of one of the worst secondaries in the entire nation. Hard to say that happens again here though, as NU is like Utah in dealing with losses to the transfer portal and to injury.
If this is a high scoring affair, Utah should win easily. If it’s an ugly Big Ten West style game, a true rock fight, then the Wildcats should take it.
You can’t play the Iowa Hawkeyes every single season and expect the monstrously ugly football disease to just simply wash off.
Prediction: Northwestern Wildcats 19, Utah Utes 17
Everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone, is picking the Utes to win here. Most are predicting that they will win big too. However, we never wanted to be like everyone else.
Time to go against the grain, let it ride, roll the dice, spin the wheel, hit on 18, ante up…pick your gambling cliche expression (as this is Vegas) and back the long shot! And Viva Las Vegas!
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.