Holiday Bowl – Buffs take down No. 13 Washington Huskies


— Holiday Bowl, 1996 — Good Bowl, Good Result The Holiday Bowl was supposed to take the third-place team from the Big 12, after the Cotton Bowl had taken the second-place team. With Texas and Nebraska already in the Bowl Alliance, they would not be considered. This left Colorado, with a 9-2 overall record, and, more imporantly, with  7-1 conference record, as the logical choice for the Cotton. After all, the Colorado Buffaloes were the only team other than Nebraska with fewer than two conference losses. So the Cotton Bowl, of …

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— The Eight Million Dollar Extra Point — The fallacies of the Bowl Alliance were never more acutely displayed than in the final weeks of 1996. Notre Dame, Syracuse, Wyoming, BYU and yes, even Colorado were victims of the system which was designed to end arguments over polls and bowls. Notre Dame played Southern Cal in its regular season finale. The Fighting Irish were 8-2, ranked No. 8 in the country, and poised to play in either the Fiesta or Orange Bowl. Either of the two Alliance Bowls would have …

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