The money has come on Colorado State - which is a mistake. Utah is the superior team and a bargain at this price range.

The Utes are road tested and hungry for a bowl victory after not getting to one during the last two seasons. Utah has been more than solid on the road beating UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State and Michigan. The Utes' only road defeat in six games was to Arizona in overtime.

Contrast this with Colorado State whose biggest victories were against Boston College, Nevada and Utah State from lesser conferences than the Pac-12 and Big Ten. When Utah played a Mountain West school - Fresno State - it won 59-27. Fresno State by the way also is in a bowl game.

The Rams faced far less challenging games than Utah. They lost 37-24 at Boise State (trailing by 27 points in the final quarter) in their biggest step-up game.

Utah is much closer to Las Vegas and will have good crowd support with its basketball team also playing on Saturday in Las Vegas at night.

Las Vegas can be a very distracting place for visitors. Colorado State is without a regular head coach as Jim McElwain left for the Florida job. This leaves a leadership vacuum, which could become more significant with the game being played in Las Vegas.

Colorado State hasn't faced a defensive front this good all season. The Utes led the nation in sacks and were fourth in tackles for losses. Look for Rams quarterback Garrett Grayson to struggle while his offensive line loses the battle of the trenches. Utah also has a strong special teams edge.

Utah is 6-1 in bowl games under Kyle Whittingham. These include victories against Alabama, Georgia Tech and Cal.