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Thursday, Nov. 26, 1998

Brigham Young to accept invitation to Liberty Bowl

Associated Press

   SALT LAKE CITY - Brigham Young will finalize its postseason travel schedule on Wednesday by accepting an invitation to the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 in Memphis.
   School sources confirmed late Tuesday that the Cougars will make their first appearance in the Memphis bowl game on New Year's Eve. A Liberty Bowl official will be in Provo on today to officially announce the much-anticipated invitation.
   BYU will face undefeated and No. 11-ranked Tulane, which clinched a bid last weekend by winning the Conference USA title. The Green Wave (10-0, 6-0 CUSA) finishes its season on Thursday against Louisiana Tech.
   Brigham Young (9-3, 7-1 Western Athletic Conference) will first play Air Force in the WAC championship game on Dec. 5 in Las Vegas, but regardless of the outcome, the Cougars will make their 21st trip to a bowl game and their first to the Liberty.
   Air Force has committed to play in one of a pair of Hawaii bowl games on Christmas Day.
   With the bid, BYU avoids missing bowls in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1972-73, the first two years of coach LaVell Edwards' tenure at the school. In 1997, the Cougars were shut out the postseason for just the third time in the last 25 years with a 6-5 record.
   But this year's Cougars have closed their season strong with seven straight wins, including a 26-24 nail-biter over Utah last Saturday. BYU opened its season 2-3 with losses to Alabama and Washington, but won the WAC's Pacific Division by running the table in their last seven conference games.
   The Green Wave (10-0, 6-0 CUSA) had hoped to be included in the Bowl Championship Series, the statistical ranking of the nation's top teams which determines who will play for the national championship.
   But the BCS announced earlier this week that Tulane was free to play in the Liberty. Bowl officials have repeatedly said they were excited about the opportunity to match Tulane against a team with the national following of Brigham Young.
   The Liberty Bowl requires schools to guarantee the purchase of an allotment of at least 10,000 tickets before the game. With BYU's large national fan base and history of traveling to bowls with large numbers of fans, the tickets shouldn't be a problem, sources said.
   

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