UCLA faces thorny options

With no chance to play in the Rose Bowl game, Bruins could land in Las Vegas.

The College Football Playoff dream died with the stumble against Arizona. Returning to the Rose Bowl game for the first time since 1999 was out after the heartbreaker against USC.

Back-to-back losses have left UCLA to ponder something a lot less fun than a path to the Pac-12 championship game.

Now it’s all about which mid-tier bowl game the Bruins might find themselves in next month.

First, a quick primer on Pac-12 bowl selections. If the Pac-12 champion makes the CFP, the Rose Bowl picks a replacement team (presumably the one with the nextbest CFP ranking). The Alamo Bowl gets the next pick, followed by the Holiday Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl. Those bowls can choose based on their own preference so long as there isn’t more than a one-game difference in conference record between their selection and teams remaining on the board.

Starting with the Sun Bowl, which picks next, the selections are based strictly on conference record. The Jimmy Kimmel Bowl goes next and the Pac-12 also will fill one slot from either the Armed Forces Bowl, First Responder Bowl or Gasparilla Bowl.

If everything breaks right, UCLA fans could get to spend a few days on San Antonio’s River Walk as part of a trip to the Alamo Bowl.