Utah State earned the right to go bowling in the first year of the Bronco Mendenhall era, and while 6-6 isn’t the most glamorous form of a bowl eligible team, it’s at worst the minimum standard for a successful season. The Aggies will be in the postseason for the 12th time in the last 15 years. The only question left to be answered is where the team will play, but there are currently plenty of potential answers to that query and not a lot of certainty behind any of them.
Here’s a look at the seven bowl games that have been predicted as including the Aggies according to a number of media outlets that have taken a stab at untangling the web of who will go where for bowling season. It’s highly likely that one of the following will be where Utah State will play its 17th bowl game in program history.
The projected bowl payout totals for the following bowls comes from Business of College Sports.
Cure Bowl
vs Miami of Ohio (predicted by The Sporting News)
- Location: Camping World Stadium (Orlando, FL)
- Date/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 17 (3 p.m.)
- Bowl Tie-In: CUSA vs MAC
- Projected Payout: $573,125
This is the longest predicted trip for Utah State, and it makes a game here somewhat unlikely as both the Aggies’ athletics department and Cure Bowl organizers a tad hesitant to host the team in Florida. Ticket sales may not be a primary driver of money, but it’s still something that matters and the long journey to Florida would include a relatively small crowd of USU faithful. But it would add to the list of bowl games Utah State has participated in and feature the first-ever meeting between the Aggies and Miami of Ohio.
Potato Bowl
vs Western Michigan (predicted by Athlon)
- Location: Albertsons Stadium (Boise, ID)
- Date: Monday, Dec. 22 (12 p.m.)
- Bowl Tie-In: Mountain West vs MAC
- Projected Payout: $800,000
The Potato Bowl is by far the Aggies’ most consistent bowl game to play in. They’ve appeared in this game a total of five times, the most recent being in 2023, which is also USU’s last bowl appearance. For all the times Utah State has played in this game, wins have been quite difficult to come by as the Aggies are 1-4 in this bowl game. Their only win was a 41-15 result against Toledo in 2012.
Frisco Bowl
vs Georgia Southern (predicted by Pro Football Network)
- Location: Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX)
- Date: Monday, Dec. 23 (7 p.m.)
- Bowl Tie-In: Two Group of Five teams (Mountain West, American, MAC, CUSA, Sun Belt)
- Projected Payout: $650,000
Were PFN to be accurate in this prediction, it would be the first-ever meeting between Georgia Southern and Utah State. It would also be the second appearance by the Aggies in this bowl game, the one other being in 2019. That game doesn’t hold the most fond memories for Aggie fans as that game featured a 51-41 loss to Kent State, which remains the first and only bowl win by the Golden Flashes.
First Responder Bowl
vs Texas State (predicted by ESPN writer Kyle Bonagura)
- Location: Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas, TX)
- Date: Friday, Dec. 26 (6 p.m.)
- Bowl Tie-In: American vs ACC or Big 12
- Projected Payout: $824,545
Kyle Bonagura has opted to predict a pre-Pac 12 meeting between Utah State and Texas State, with the meeting taking place in Texas in a bowl game the Aggies are only three years removed from participating in. Last time out it resulted in a blowout 38-10 loss to Memphis. Perhaps this time things could end better.
New Mexico Bowl
vs Texas State (predicted by SI.com)
- Location: University Stadium (Albuquerque, NM)
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 27 (3:45 p.m.)
- Bowl Tie-In: Two Group of Five teams (Mountain West, American, MAC, CUSA, Sun Belt)
- Projected Payout: $1,050,000
Utah State’s last trip to the New Mexico Bowl was a resounding success, coming at the tail end of Jordan Love’s historic 2018 campaign in which he led the most explosive offense in Aggie program history to an 11-2 overall record. USU won the 2018 edition of this bowl game 52-13 over North Texas. SI.com has the Aggies playing another school out of the Lone Star State and it’s once again Texas State, the same program Bonagura predicts USU will play, albeit in a different bowl.
Independence Bowl
vs Louisiana (predicted by College Football News)
vs Kennesaw State (predicted by CBS Sports)
- Location: Shreveport, LA
- Date: Tuesday, Dec. 30 (12 p.m.)
- Bowl Tie-In: Big 12 vs CUSA
- Projected Payout: $2,200,000
This bowl game has previously been the home of Army. In the event the Black Knights were bowl eligible, and didn’t get selected to the CFP, they would end up in a bowl fittingly named for the gridiron representatives of the United States Military Academy. But this year’s matchup is designated for a game between a Big 12 school and a member of Conference USA. Though if the Big 12 doesn’t have a team available for this contest (likely from the inclusion of teams in the CFP), it’s possible the Aggies could end up heading to Louisiana. That’s what College Football News and CBS Sports both believe will happen.
Utah State has never appeared in this bowl game, which has been played annually since 1973. Only one current member of the Mountain West has every played in this bowl, Air Force. The Falcons played in the Independence Bowl in 1983, 1984 and 2010, the latter of those three being the only time a team was in the Mountain West and appeared in this bowl game.
Bahamas Bowl
vs Louisiana (predicted by ESPN writer Mark Schlabach)
- Location: TBD
- Date: TBD
- Bowl Tie-In: CUSA vs MAC
- Projected Payout: $225,000
The only problem with this prediction is that the Bahamas Bowl is in a state of limbo. It will not be played in its traditional location of Nassau due to renovations being made to Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. That there is still a TBD attached to this bowl game is a concern. Though, given the prediction was made by a writer at ESPN, the company that owns the rights to most of the bowl games, it’s a pretty good indication that the bowl will happen in some form or another.
