CowboyNV said:
I know it was a different era, but I remember a 10 win Tiller coached team not getting a bowl invite. Hopefully you are right on there being a rule to prevent a 7 win team from staying home and allowing a 6 win team in.
That was a VERY different era. There were a grand total of 18 bowl games. That being said, there's no way Wyoming should have been left out. Here's what that year's slate looked like:
Date Bowl Pts Pts Notes
1997-01-02 Sugar Bowl Florida (3) 52 Florida State (1) 20 New Orleans, LA
1997-01-01 Citrus Bowl Tennessee (9) 48 Northwestern (11) 28 Orlando, FL
1997-01-01 Cotton Bowl BYU (5) 19 Kansas State (14) 15 Dallas, TX
1997-01-01 Fiesta Bowl Penn State (7) 38 Texas (20) 15 Tempe, AZ
1997-01-01 Gator Bowl N Carolina (12) 20 West Virginia (25) 13 Jacksonville, FL
1997-01-01 Outback Bowl Alabama (16) 17 Michigan (15) 14 Tampa, FL
1997-01-01 Rose Bowl Ohio State (4) 20 Arizona State (2) 17 Pasadena, CA
1996-12-31 Independence Auburn 32 Army (24) 29 Shreveport, LA
1996-12-31 Orange Bowl Nebraska (6) 41 Virginia Tech (10) 21 Miami, FL
1996-12-31 Sun Bowl Stanford 38 Michigan State 0 El Paso, TX
1996-12-30 Holiday Bowl Colorado (8) 33 Washington (13) 21 San Diego, CA
1996-12-29 Alamo Bowl Iowa (21) 27 Texas Tech 0 San Antonio, TX
1996-12-28 Peach Bowl LSU (17) 10 Clemson 7 Atlanta, GA
1996-12-27 Carquest Bowl Miami (FL) (19) 31 Virginia 21 Miami, FL
1996-12-27 Copper Bowl Wisconsin 38 Utah 10 Tucson, AZ
1996-12-27 Liberty Bowl Syracuse (23) 30 Houston 17 Memphis, TN
1996-12-25 Aloha Bowl Navy 42 California 38 Honolulu, HI
1996-12-19 Las Vegas Bowl Nevada 18 Ball State 15 Las Vegas, NV
It was a CRIME that we got left out that year. Ended the season ranked #22 and no bowl invite?! Utah got invited FFS. The only other top 25 team left out was Notre Dame, at #18. This also happened to be the last straw to break the Bowl Alliance and build the BCS.