San Diego County Credit Union Poinsetta Bowl

Bowl History:  The original Poinsettia Bowl was first played in 1952 and featured the champions of the Eastern and Western Military Bases against one another. Bolling Air Force Base defeated San Diego Naval Training Center, 35-14, on December 20, 1952! This format was followed through 1955, the bowl was cancelled after the 1955 game! The Poinsettia Bowl was resurrected in 2005, with the intent to involve the military academies on an annual basis, when and if Bowl eligible. In the 2005 game, Navy beat Colorado State, 51-30, last year’s game (2015) featured Western Kentucky and South Florida, a game won by WK, 45-35! The 2008 game, between #11 (TCU) and 9th ranked (Boise State) was the highest rated pre-Christmas Bowl game ever on ESPN – TCU 17 Boise State 16! Poinsettia Bowl Pay out, $500,000.00 per team

Teams: BYU vs Wyoming 

Bowl Location: San Diego, California. The San Diego County Credit Union, Poinsettia Bowl is played at Qualcomm Stadium with a capacity of 71,500

Day, Date & Time: Wednesday, December 21, 2016, 8:00 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Win(s): BYU went 3-3 vs P5 Opponents, the Cougars beat Arizona, 18-16, Michigan State, 31-14, & Mississippi State, 28-21 in OT. It should be noted none of these teams had a winning record in 2015. Wyoming beat MWC Champion, San Diego State, 34-33!

Worst Losses: Wyoming’s lost to UNLV (4-8) 69-66 in OT; BYU’s lost to UCLA (4-8), 17-14!

Common Opponents: Boise State: Wyoming beat 30-28 & BYU lost to 28-27 & Utah State: Wyoming beat 52-28 & BYU beat the Aggies 28-10

Vegas Hotsheets Favorite: BYU -10

Offensive Team Data: BYU ; Total Yards, 402 YPG; Passing Yards, 212 YPG; Rushing Yards, 190 YPG; Scoring Average, 30 PPG, Turnovers, 1.42 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 45.6%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 94% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 60%

Offensive Team Data: Wyoming ; Total Yards, 439 YPG; Passing Yards, 230 YPG; Rushing Yards, 209 YPG; Scoring Average 37 PPG, Turnovers, 1.69 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 43.5%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 90% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 74%

Defensive Team Data: BYU ; Total Yards, 368 YPG; Passing Yards, 250 YPG; Rushing Yards, 118 YPG; Scoring Average, 19 PPG, Turnovers, 2.42 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 39.5%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 73% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 55%

Defensive Team Data: Wyoming ; Total Yards, 465 YPG; Passing Yards, 261 YPG; Rushing Yards, 204 YPG; Scoring Average, 35 PPG, Turnovers, 1.85 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 42.7%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 77% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 62%

Sully’s CFP Game Simulator is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will preform, based solely on their numbers, when they face off on the gridiron! Keep in mind, these stats were established against different teams and conferences and these differences must be taken into account to get a complete picture when attempting to predetermine a winner. If you are interested in how the Simulator works … read this part … if not … skip it! The process used is … we take Wyoming’s total yards on offense, add it to what BYU gives up on defense, … get a total and then divide that number by 2 … to get the mean. We then invert the process by taking BYU’s total offense, add it to what Wyoming gives up on defense, get a total and divide that number by 2 to get the second mean… the greater number (with the exception of Turnovers) is then determined to have the advantage ( please note …. statistical advantage). We repeat this process in each of the eight statistical categories assessed! That said… here are the results of the Head to Head Analysis:

Total Yards Advantage: BYU 433.5 to 403.5, ….

Passing Yards Advantage: Wyoming 240 to 236.5, ….

Rushing Yards Advantage: BYU 197 to 163.5, ….

Scoring Advantage: BYU 32.5 to 28, ….

Turnovers Advantage: BYU 1.635 to 2.055, …

3rd Down Conversions Advantage: BYU 44.15 to 41.5, …

Red Zone All Scores Advantage: BYU 85.5 to 81.5, …

Red Zone TD’s Only Advantage: Wyoming 64.5 to 61, …

Simulator Says:  BYU 6 to 2 Statistacally, BYU wins 33-28 but does not cover, Wyoming and the 10 points is the call!

Individuals to Watch: Wyoming’s QB Josh Allen, passed for 2.996, 26 TD’s, 13 INT’s, & 15.6 YPC (4th best in the country); BYU’s Jamaal Williams, 1165 Rushing Yards, 129.4 YPG (8th best in the nation), 11 rushing TD’s

Sully Says: BYU will win this game outright, by a FG or less! Giving Wyoming 4 would be too many, 10 is boarding on crazy! Take Wyoming and the 10 to the local bank~