Executive director John Saccenti said on Sunday that the Pac-12 powerhouse Utah will play Northwestern in the 2023 Las Vegas Bowl, marking the return of the Big Ten to Las Vegas.
Dec. 23 at 4:30 p.m. at Allegiant Stadium; ABC (KTNV-13 locally) will televise the game.
Utah (8-4) will play in its sixth Las Vegas Bowl, setting a record. They last defeated Brigham Young 35-28 in 2015. Northwestern (7-5) will play in its first-ever Las Vegas Bowl.
The most recent meeting between the two institutions took place in the 2018 Holiday Bowl, where the Wildcats defeated the Utes 31–20. In the overall series, Northwestern is ahead 2-1.
Saccenti stated that the Utes were a possible Las Vegas Bowl for several weeks. Utah and Southern California had the final say after No. 14 Arizona was confirmed for the Alamo Bowl.
This season, Utah prevailed over USC in their head-to-head encounter. Saccenti added that the Las Vegas Bowl decided to select the Utes due to the reputation of the Utah fan base for excellent travel as well as concerns about which players would miss out for USC. This was particularly true after several Florida players missed out on the Las Vegas Bowl the previous year.
Saccenti stated that Utah supporters “love traveling to Las Vegas.” “They genuinely look forward to being here.”
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