With BYU vs. Utah, Las Vegas Bowl director gets dream pairing

When the announcement was made Sunday afternoon, he was wearing a dark blazer, pressed white shirt with an open collar, dark trousers and black-and-white crocheted Nikes that seemed a cross between skate shoes and bedroom slippers.

John Saccenti's overcoat with the lucky star appliques must have been hanging in an upstairs closet.

Saccenti is executive director of the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. This means one of his responsibilities is posing between Las Vegas showgirls on the day bowl pairings are revealed and saying what a great matchup ours is.

One year it was North Carolina vs. San Diego State, which is sort of like Army-Navy, if you took away the goat and any pretense of fan interest.

This year it's Brigham Young vs. Utah.

Pass the awesome sauce.

They refer to to it as the "Holy War," so somebody call the Byzantine Empire, and Joan of Arc, and the Mongols, and popes named Urban, and football coaches named Urban. His Holiness Urban Meyer I, Supreme Pontiff of Columbus, might be interested in this one, too, having endured a couple of these Holy Wars when he was still building a flock with Alex Smith at quarterback.

Tickets are going to be impossible to get. So somebody call StubHub, too. I'm told the scalpers already are lining up on Russell Road.

Last week the bowl committee played a wild card when it extended an invitation to BYU instead of waiting on San Diego State and Air Force to decide the Mountain West representative. Saccenti said a second deck would have to be built on Sam Boyd Stadium if Utah fell far enough in the Pac-12 pecking order for the Las Vegas Bowl to snap it up for the second straight season.

"I'm gonna have to call over to UNLV and see how quick they can get it done," Saccenti said in the foyer of the Pebble Place business park, one floor below the Las Vegas Bowl offices, as showgirls preened for TV cameras and bowl officials and media types made little sandwiches out of Raising Cane's chicken tenders and Texas toast.

"We're gonna have a packed house. We've seen what BYU has done (travelwise); we've seen what Utah has done. Now you put them together. It's going to be an unbelievable setting; it's going to be an unbelievable crowd. They're going to be loud; they're going to be in their seats early.

The teetotaling BYU supporters probably will be drinking 7UP. The Utah faithful might be quaffing something harder, because when Utah fans travel, they don't worry so much about getting busted with 80 proof in a hip flask.

This is what former Cougars quarterback Max Hall said about Utah fans after one of the recent Holy Wars:

"I think the whole university and their fans and organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff, and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don't respect them, and they deserve to lose."

Last week, in a Holy War played in short pants, Nick Emery of the Cougars sucker-punched Brandon Taylor of the Utes under the rim during garbage time. Alcohol was not a contributing factor. It still was kind of a nasty thing.

"It's going to be fun out there," Saccenti said with twinkles in both eyes.

While there have been 95 of these exorcisms — these two rather enjoy beating the devil out of each other — there wasn't one this season. With Utah having moved up to the Pac-12, and BYU having gone independent, it has become difficult for the schools to fit a Holy War into their schedules.

But then here comes the Las Vegas Bowl and John Saccenti's lap, waiting for something big to fall into it.

"There was a chance of Washington State at one point; there was a chance of USC at one point," he said of the Pac-12 representative. "All would have been home runs."

Perhaps having Southern Cal would have been a home run, because Southern Cal has tradition and a giant marching band that knows how to play "Tusk." Washington State would have been a single in the seventh inning. Having Utah, and having BYU as the opposition, is like Joe Carter hitting that home run against Mitch Williams in the World Series, or Kirk Gibson hitting one off Dennis Eckersley.

"When it came down to it, Utah kind of fell into our laps," Saccenti said. "We have an absolute home run matchup, and an absolute home run game. I'm going to become a ticket-selling guru in a matter of minutes."

On Sunday it also was announced that San Jose State (5-7) would be facing Georgia State (6-6) in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., also on Dec. 19. The executive director of the Cure Bowl is a man with a nice haircut named Alan Gooch.

I have no idea if he was wearing crocheted black-and-white Nikes when the Cure Bowl matchup was announced. But my guess is that he's not going to become a ticket-selling guru anytime soon.

— Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.