Let the Las Vegas Bowl festivities begin

Good morning from chilly Las Vegas.

BYU has a busy schedule today, starting with a one-hour practice from 11 until noon at Bishop Gorman High School. The past three years, the team has practiced at Valley High School but has switched to Bishop Gorman because the facilities are newer and better there.

In the afternoon, from 4-6, both BYU and Arizona will attend the Welcome Reception at the ESPN Zone at the New York, New York hotel. It marks the first official event of Las Vegas Bowl week and will feature a “Vegas Idol” singing exhibition and a pie-eating contest. The teams will also enjoy food and video games in the upstairs area of the ESPN Zone.

Tonight, the two teams will take in a performance of “Stomp Out Loud” at Planet Hollywood.

This is Arizona’s first bowl game in a decade, so this is all new for the Wildcats.
Of course, the Cougars have been through this the past three years and coach Bronco Mendenhall said it’s helpful to have both players and coaches who have been experienced this before.

‘Really, we don’t have many uncertainties until we get to the football game, which is nice because there’s not a lot of extra energy wasted on wondering and the anxiety over getting to this place on time or what’s this going to be like? And are the teams crossing over here? And how are the players going to interact? We’ve done this before and it doesn’t mean that we’re perfect, but at least we don’t have many questions, at least until game day.’