New Mexico State linebacker Lui Fa’amasino holds the game trophy for fans as they celebrate on-field after the overtime victory over Utah State in the 2017 Arizona Bowl in Tucson.
In his negotiations with the CBS Sports Network, Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl chairman Ali Farhang did one very smart thing. “I insisted that I control the date and time of our game,” he said. That’s why the fourth Arizona Bowl will kick off at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday at Arizona Stadium. “Thirty-six of 41 bowls are controlled by one network (ESPN) and they are essentially programming fillers,” Farhang said. “We won’t do that in Tucson. We won’t play at night and we won’t play in the middle of the week.” The Arizona Bowl had sold 34,000 tickets as of early last week. Farhang insists a sellout of 55,000 is possible, but if 40,000 show up for Saturday’s Nevada-Arkansas State game, he and his staff should get a medal.
