Las Vegas Bowl matchup draws rave reviews from national media

Creating a bowl matchup each year is not easy, considering there are 40 such games.

Creating a bowl game worth watching is even tougher, especially when you’re fighting to keep viewers from reaching for the TV remote control.

If the national media is right, then Las Vegas Bowl officials appear to have found a pair of teams that will keep viewers from grabbing the remote. Saturday’s matchup between Houston (9-3) and San Diego State (10-3) at Sam Boyd Stadium is drawing rave reviews around the country.

It helps that the Las Vegas Bowl is the first bowl game of the season to be televised by a national broadcast network (ABC) and it sits in a prime viewing spot for the East Coast (12:30 p.m. PT, which is 3:30 p.m. ET).

While the teams aren’t from Power Five conferences, they are two of the best schools from the Group of Five conferences (American Athletic Conference and Mountain West). It also doesn’t hurt that one school pulled off two of the biggest upsets of the season (Houston’s wins over Oklahoma and Louisville) and the other has the second-leading rusher in college football history (San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey, who played locally at Canyon Springs High).

From Sports Illustrated to CBS Sports, media outlets are calling this one of the games to watch this bowl season. That has been a point of pride for Las Vegas Bowl executive director John Saccenti, who worked with ESPN officials to create the pairing.

“I think it says we did a pretty good job creating a compelling matchup,” Saccenti said Monday. “We thought it was a good matchup and we were pretty pleased that we got a Mountain West champion and a team that climbed as high as No. 6 in the polls.

“It’s great to hear that it’s a bowl that has people fired up about it.”

Here’s what they are saying about the game:

■ Sports Illustrated gave the Las Vegas Bowl four out of five “footballs,” for its second-highest rating for watchability among bowl games.

“(Former Houston coach) Tom Herman won’t be on the sidelines, but this remains one of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season. The second-leading rusher in NCAA history (Donnel Pumphrey) gets to clash with one of the nation’s best freshmen (defensive tackle Ed Oliver), and two of the nation’s best Group of Five teams clash. It’s worth it. Tune in.​”

■ SB Nation also placed the bowl in the second-most important category of games to watch, “Really good options, and you’d hate to miss.” The game was placed among the top 11 bowls and received a score of 3.5 out of 5.

“The Cinderella in this classification is easily Vegas, with a pair of enjoyable non-power teams.”

■ Sports on Earth, part of MLB Advanced Media, ranked the Las Vegas Bowl as the 11th-best bowl.

“For a team that beat Oklahoma and Louisville, Houston finished with a disappointing 9-3 record, and now it will move on to the Las Vegas Bowl coached by defensive coordinator Todd Orlando with Tom Herman off to Texas. This should nevertheless be an intriguing matchup between the Cougars and the Aztecs, who have won back-to-back Mountain West titles. San Diego State RB Donnel Pumphrey needs just 108 yards to break the FBS career rushing record of Ron Dayne, although, officially, Dayne’s record does not include bowl statistics. It won’t be easy, in a matchup against a talented Houston defensive front led by star freshman DT Ed Oliver and playmaking LB Steven Taylor. The Cougars rank third nationally in run defense, but their offense also faces a tough battle against the Aztecs’ own stingy run defense. ”

■ CBS Sports also selected the bowl as the 11th best this season.

“Year in and year out the Las Vegas Bowl always finds itself with a great matchup. This season is no different as Houston (minus Tom Herman) gets to take on the Mountain West champions. These are two good teams that should provide a compelling game.”

Saccenti thinks the most interesting aspect is the “game within a game.”

“Part of the reason it’s so compelling is that it has the hometown kid (Pumphrey), who has chance to break the NCAA rushing record in his hometown,” he said. “Houston knows how many yards (108) he needs. San Diego State knows how much he needs. Something’s got to give.”

Sports Editor Bill Bradley can be reached at 702-387-2909 or at bbradley@reviewjournal.com. Follow @billbradleyLV on Twitter.