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Very unflattering article about the Zips here in an article about the match-up. I hope it's how Utah State, prepares, however. Teams that disrespect our offense are now starting to get burned. Our special teams had some poor performances, but saying they stink is reach. We had no kickoffs or punts returned for TDs and I don't remember us losing possession due to a fumble on a return. People make light of the fact that our wins were against teams with bad records. However, something great happened in those games: the team had a chance to gel and they learned how to become winners.. You could argue that if we had a couple of those earlier in the season, we might have one or both of those close ones against OU or CMU. Any way you slice it, wining four on a row really gave the team, in particular, the offense, a chance to grow. Teams challenged us to win with the pass at their own demise. I think the match-up against Utah State is a good match. I watched other teams' fans upset at the bowl pick and opponent yesterday and it made me laugh. I see Utah State fans laugh at the few here, who have disrespected Utah State and they should laugh. The match up is fairly even. In terms of the bowl itself, I am not sure any of have a window of the financial impact on the program. I think there is some "profit sharing" among the MAC teams and each bowl differs on how ticket purchases are handled. It is not "convenient" for the fans, but most of the bowls are not. It looks like last year, the Chips The Potato Bowl gave the Chips an allotment of tickets and the school kept the profits, unlike bowls that require the schools to buy an allotment. Most of the mocking comes from people who don't realize what a beautiful are Boise is in and how well the bowl treats the kids. It would be really nice if the school were to decide to travel the band. They were bigger and seemed to be a bigger force during the game this year. It would be a nice reward for playing through so many pouring rain games this year and give them more exposure, as well.

I am not complaining about anything about where the Zips are going or who they are playing. I love the fact that they are going bowling. My only beef is the payout. Doesn't it make sense that 5-7 teams that would normally be ineligible should be delegated to the lowest payout bowls by rule? I don't care about conference affiliations, these teams were NOT eligible. I don't know who makes the rules on such things but I do think there should be a writing campaign started to suggest that losing teams granted eligibility simply because of vacancies should go to the lowest payout bowls. It just makes sense.

Didn't Speight start out SVSM? Too bad we couldn't land him.

I like our matchup with Utah State as it is an opponent that we have never played. To me that's one of the fun things about watching a bowl game. I sure hope a Zips player does not try snowboarding as a beginner prior to the Bowl. First, it's very humbling (takes about 5 lessons to get up to speed) and second you can be sore afterwards as you use muscles you never knew you had. Try snow tubing out in Boise instead.

It was incredible to be at MLS Cup in Columbus today. @ZIP ... Cameron Knowles is the coach whose name you're trying to rememberTailgated with the Trapps. Got a picture of myself with Wil's Mom & Dad, Andrea, Colin, Jake, and Stella Porter who wandered past the tailgate on their way int to the stadium. (Thanks all!)Was able to get Pablo Maoreira's attention for a moment prior to the start of the game.Sat in a row of Timbers' fans in a sea of Crew fans, and pleasantly surprised to find I was seated next to Darlington Nagbe's sister. Congratulated her at end of game.Got to congratulate Michael Nanchoff at the end of the game.Talked with Eric Stevenson and Saad Abdul-Salaam in the stands at the end of the game.Fun atmosphere...the Timbers Army was outstanding and the Nordecke was good as well.Watched Caleb celebrate with his team and acknowledge the TA, who were chanting "Ca-leb Por-ter" ... like the Rowdies used to do.So happy for Caleb & the Timbers.The Crew did an outstanding job hosting. Glad that they have grass.Talked with Wil for a few minutes after the game.EDIT: Saw Perry Kitchen accept, at the game, the keys to a Lamborghini for his use for 12 month.Great day to be a Zips fan. So blessed.

This has been a very memorable weekend, with two hard-fought victories by my favorite teams -- and then the hard-to-believe last minute cancellation of the USWNT game two miles from my house. That one is very hard to accept, being the first international football match to be played in the 50th state. The American Outlaws Honolulu just got inaugurated, and this puts a big damper on our and the state's #FootiePride. Hope it's not our last chance, but the state and university have to get their facilities in shape.

Well as if I needed any more evidence to refute my earlier suggestion that CP MIGHT have been the NCAA Soccer equivalent of Calipari, Caleb and the Timbers certainly erased any doubt about how wildly incorrect I was. Caleb is now the 4th coach to win both NCAA and MLS titles. Awesome!

Earth to Zach - UA moved up from 1-AA/FCS in 1987. I'd expect the Utah STATE Aggies to be about a 7-10 point favorite. Having Chuckie back at QB is huge for them, although he looked a little tentative when I watched some of their game in Logan against BYU.

Two of the Columbus players also had big roles against the Zips in the College Cup. Tony Tchani played a big role for Virginia in their 2009 win and Justin Meram I think might have been the player that scored the early goal for Michigan in the 2010 semifinal.

Haven't been to a bowl in 10 years and people are complaining... Amazing.

Listen, I'm no saint. But, I think I wouldn't be happy if that kind of really strong language was part of any highlight video about me, for public consumption, when the idea is to impress people.