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Let's skip the pleasantries here. Las Vegas is more fun than New Mexico. And in the case of bowl games, an invitation to the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl is more of an honor.
The Arizona Wildcats' loss to ASU on Saturday dimmed the chances they'd head there. It looked like a very good guess that with a victory against the Sun Devils, the Wildcats could very well return to the Las Vegas Bowl. But now, things are unclear.
Two Pac-12 teams -- Oregon and Stanford -- are expected to make BCS bowls. Assuming that much and jumping to the fun part, Washington, Arizona and ASU are fighting for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl. It's basically a toss-up at this point except for one important note; ASU played in Vegas last year, and with Boise State again looking like a lock as the MWC winner, that matchup would be quite repetitive.
Washington is ahead of Arizona in the Pac-12 standings as well, but that doesn't necessarily make them the go-to move either. While the Huskies haven never been invited to Vegas and Arizona found itself there in 2008, who knows if the good people would pick the Wildcats to return.
The loss to a pretty terrible WSU team this weekend certainly looks a bit worse than Arizona's loss to the Sun Devils. Meanwhile, the Wildcats sit at No. 36 in the AP Poll, not bad considering all things.
Here's a look at where people are picking the Wildcats:
Anthony Gimino of the Tucson Citizen thinks it's the New Mexico Bowl.
Jason Kirk of SB Nation sees Arizona going to the New Mexico Bowl as well, but he also lists ASU as going to Vegas. That could change things.
College Football News has the Wildcats going to the Vegas Bowl, giving people like me hope that it can still happen.
Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times breaks it down from the Washington angle and talks to some Las Vegas Bowl reps, who tell him it won't be a known pick until next Sunday.