Arizona vs. BYU

Wildcats -3 vs. Cougars

Despite only two wins, BYU finds itself in a bowl game on the first day of bowl season-again. The Las Vegas Bowl is one of the four bowl games set for Saturday, the first day of the bowl season and BYU (10-2) finds itself in the game for the fourth straight time, this time facing Arizona (7-5).

Perhaps with only two losses, the Cougars deserved better, however their losses were costly ones. The first came to TCU on October 16. The unranked Frogs handled the Cougars easily, winning 32-7. The loss dropped BYU from number eight, their highest ranking all season. Finally with a chance to make a statement against archrival Utah, the Cougars fell on their face, losing 48-24 on November 22. The Utes were ranked number eight at the time and are now on the greener pastures, while BYU is in the familiar surroundings of Sin City.

Las Vegas is certainly a great place to visit and the Cougars have won their last two trips into Sam Boyd Stadium for the bowl game. For their opponents, Arizona, they are ecstatic to be there. The Wildcats enjoyed their first winning season since 1998 and capped a good regular season with a victory over archrival Arizona State on December 6. This will be the first bowl game for the program since they beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl following the 1998 season to capture a 12-1 record.

The game should be a high-octane gun-slinging affair which befits the western style of Las Vegas. Both teams have great signal callers able to sling the ball. Max Hall leads BYU and helped the team climb to 19th in the nation is scoring with 35.3 points per game and 17th with total offense at 448.8 yards per contest. The Wildcats Willie Tuitama had a stellar year in the pass happy Pac-10 by finishing second in the conference with 2763 yards and 21 scores.

Arizona actually has quite a stellar defense with 302.1 yards given up, but have struggled away from home. In their five road games, they have given up 30.6 points per game, while at home they have limited opponents to 14.7 points.

It is a rarity for two teams to have played each other many times compete in a postseason contest, but this will be the third straight season that BYU and Arizona have met with the teams splitting the pair. This will be the 22nd game between the programs which used to reside in the Western Athletic Conference.

The two game winning streak in the Las Vegas Bowl followed a four-game bowl losing streak for BYU. The Cougars have attended 26 bowl games and has gone 9-16-1 in those contests. This will be the Wildcats’ 14th bowl game and have won five and tied one of the previous 13.

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Dolphins vs. Chiefs

Miami -3 1/2 vs. Kansas City

Remember in grade school when you had a crush on the girl a few desks over? You would stare at her and then when she happened to look in your direction, you would peel your eyes away as fast as possible. As Kansas City welcomes Miami in for their Week 16 contest, perhaps the Chiefs will be eyeing the Dolphins longingly, only to look away when their gaze is met.

The Chiefs (2-12) have been caught in the doldrums all season long, but they only have to look at their opponents to see that fortunes in the NFL can change quite rapidly. The Dolphins (9-5) needed a lucky brake to avoid going 0-16 last season and finished 1-15. They had a shakeup in the organization that shipped out first-year coach Cam Cameron and brought in Bill Parcells to take over the organization and his handpicked coach Tony Sparano. The team now has shot a playoff berth and even an outside chance at clinching the AFC East crown, something unthinkable just 12 months before.

Kansas City will be undergoing a similar off-season makeover. Long term President and General Manager Carl Peterson has announced he will be stepping down after this season which will bring in a new regime and a new age of Kansas City football. Peterson built the Chiefs into perennial contenders when he arrived in the city prior to the 1989 season. He inherited a Chiefs squad that went 4-11 in both years prior to his arrival. He turned the team into a 8-7-1 squad his first year and watched them make the postseason six straight times. The good teams fell apart mid-way through this decade and resulted in his departure.

Kansas City’s future is bright with their strong draft last spring, but Miami’s future is now. If they win their next two games and the Jets lose both games (the two teams met in the regular season finale), the Dolphins win the division. Last week Miami beat San Francisco 14-9 at home.

The teams have not met since 2006 when the Dolphins won at home.

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Steelers vs. Titans

Pittsburgh -2 vs. Tennessee

For teams that have the playoffs and a first-round bye clinched, this game between Pittsburgh and Tennessee does not have the impact it may have had had the Steelers not clinched the AFC South and a first-round bye in the playoffs after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens 13-9 in a big road victory last week. But this game still has a tremendous impact and will decide whether the AFC playoffs will go through frigid Heinz Field in Pittsburgh or through the Music City of Nashville.

Moreover, the Tennessee Titans (12-2) want to prove they are still the power they appeared to be when they started the season 10-0, but have only gone .500 since with wins against winless Detroit and hapless Cleveland and losses to possible playoff team the New York Jets and last week to division rival Houston.

Home field seemed a foregone conclusion nearly a month ago, but Tennessee’s struggles have opened the door for Pittsburgh (11-3), winners of five straight, to possibly steel away the Titans’ coveted prize.

Tennessee’s stellar defensive play has eroded in recent weeks and that was seen when the Texans’ Andre Johnson racked up 207 yards and a touchdown en route to a 13-12 upset victory over Tennessee. A bad day was made worse as the Titans saw their defensive leader, tackle Albert Haynesworth rolling around on the field in pain. The All-Pro had sprained his MCL and will miss the Titan’s remaining two games. With a bye in the first week of the postseason, Haynesworth is hopeful to return for the team’s first playoff game in the divisional round.

While Tennessee’s defense has betrayed them in recent weeks, Pittsburgh’s defense has led them on the brink of home field advantage. The Steelers won a controversial replay and turned a late 9-6 deficit to Baltimore into a 13-9 victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers lead the NFL in rush defense, pass defense and total defense and is on pace to be first the first team to finish first in all three of those categories since the 1991 Eagles. The Steelers also lead in scoring defense at a paltry 13.7 points per contest.

Even more history making is the fact that no opponent to face Pittsburgh this season has eclipsed 300 yards and no one has done that since the 1973 Rams.

The interesting thing about home field for these teams is that they may not want that distinction. In 2000, the year after the Titans lost the Super Bowl to the Rams by one-yard, they finished 13-3 and were preparing to have the AFC playoffs go through Nashville until they lost in their first game. The Steelers have even more pain as the top AFC seed, clinching it in 1994, 2001 and 2004 but lost the AFC championship game at home each season. They won the Super Bowl following the 2005 season as a wild-card team, playing three road games before winning Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

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