Arizona State To Face Mountain West Champion No. 21 Fresno State In 27Th Las Vegas Bowl

December 3, 2018 by Mitsubishi

LAS VEGAS – Featuring the first meeting of the teams in 77 years, Arizona State (7-5) of the Pac-12 Conference will face Mountain West champion and No. 21 Fresno State (11-2) in the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl.

The 27th edition of the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 15, at 12:30 p.m. PT, and will air on ABC.

ASU earned a second-place finish in the Pac-12 South Division with a 5-4 mark. The Sun Devils, who are led by first-year head coach Herm Edwards, make only their second appearance in Las Vegas, having lost here to Boise State, 56-24, in 2011.

'The Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl invitation provides a tremendous opportunity for our team and coaching staff to compete against a quality program and close out the 2018 season,' Edwards said. 'We look forward to representing Arizona State University and our fans in Las Vegas. A bowl game is a reward for a good season and I am happy for our players and coaching staff to be able to have this experience.'

The Bulldogs, who will serve as the home team, will play in the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl for the third time overall but first time in five years. They fell 17-16 to Utah as a member of the WAC in the 1999 edition and 45-20 to USC in 2013. Head coach Jeff Tedford previously led Cal to a 35-28 victory over BYU in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl.

'We are excited to accept the invitation to the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl and represent the Mountain West conference,' said Tedford. 'It's a great opportunity for our program and our fans to experience a premier bowl game. We have a great deal of respect for the Pac-12 conference and Arizona State and look forward to an exciting bowl experience.'

Fresno State, which downed Boise State 19-16 in overtime at Saturday's Mountain West Championship, stands No. 21 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, 19th by the AP poll and 21st in the coaches' poll. This marks the 12th time in the last 13 years that at least one of the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl teams is ranked in the Top 25.

The Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl will mark only the fourth meeting of the two teams as ASU took all three matchups in 1931, '33 and '41.

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'This will be a rare matchup of programs from two historic programs from the West who have not met on the field in nearly eight decades,' said Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl Executive Director John Saccenti. 'Fresno State's impressive season continued with a big win in the snow up in Boise while Arizona State made national news with its turnaround this fall under Herm Edwards. Neither team has been here in a while, so we are excited to host the Bulldogs and Sun Devils and their tremendous fan bases for another great bowl week in Las Vegas.'

Fresno State will arrive Monday, Dec. 10, and ASU one day later to enjoy a week full of local activities. Tickets for Las Vegas Bowl XXVII range in price from $45-$120 (plus fees and LET), depending on location. Visit www.lvbowl.com for more information.

The Las Vegas Bowl is one of 15 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

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