Utah Football: 3 Bold Predictions for Holiday Bowl vs. Northwestern

Utah football takes on Northwestern in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl. Who prevails after losing their conference championship game?

Northwestern finished second in the Big Ten after being absolutely rolled by Ohio State in their conference championship game. However, it was the first time that Northwestern had won their division. Utah finished second in their conference too, falling to Washington 10-3 in the Pac-12 title game. Like Northwestern though, they won their division for the first time.

All things considered, this is the alternative Rose Bowl. It’s the runners-up Rose Bowl. Nevertheless, it’s shaping up to be just as exciting of a game. On that note, let’s talk bold predictions.

3. Something has to give…

Utah is great in bowl games and that is honestly an understatement. The Utes have won six bowls in a row and 12 of the last 13 under head coach Kyle Whittingham. As a program, it has won 16 of its last 17 going back to a loss to Wisconsin in 1996. That is an extremely good track record.

Northwestern won it’s first ever bowl game in 1948. That was the Rose Bowl. They then dropped nine straight until that streak was busted, though it included another four-year losing streak afterwards. However, a win over Mississippi State in the 2012 Gator Bowl has started a new kind of streak. At this point, Northwestern has won three of their last four including a thriller over Kentucky in last year’s Music City Bowl.

Something has to give though. Will it be Utah’s nearly two-decade streak or Northwestern’s mini streak that started in 2012? My bold prediction is that Utah stretches the streak, but we shall see.