Will ‘Bohl Bowl’ Translate Into Mountain West’s New, Hot Rivalry?

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Wyoming is open for business when it comes to recruiting new rivals.

Will that awesome responsibility land on the shoulders of Mountain West newcomer -- and FBS rookies -- North Dakota State?

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"I keep hearing about this," UW head coach Jay Sawvel said with a smile Thursday afternoon at the Palms Casino and Resort. "Everybody wants to make a 'Bohl Bowl' or something like that. I'm all for it."

So is Tim Polasek.

"I think there is a chance for a natural type of rivalry," NDSU's third-year head coach added from behind the podium in Las Vegas. "It fits, regionally. I mean, it just fits."

Sawvel and Polasek, from 2021-23, served on the same staff under Craig Bohl in Laramie. The latter ran the offense. Sawvel was the defensive coordinator at Wyoming from 2020-23 before being handed the reins of the program that December.

Eleven days later, Polasek was officially named the new boss in Fargo.

Since, he has led the Bison to a 26-3 record, including an FCS Championship, the school's record-setting 10th, during his first year on the sideline. Sawvel's introduction to the hot seat hasn't been quite as smooth, to say the least.

The 55-year-old has a 7-17 record and has yet to reach the postseason after the program made six bowl appearances in Bohl's decade-long tenure.

Bohl, of course, was the head coach of the Bison for 11 seasons, claiming three of those aforementioned titles. He accepted the UW job in 2014 and made one appearance in the conference championship game with Josh Allen under center.

The Mountain West has a much different look to it this summer.

On July 1, Northern Illinois and NDSU became football-only members of the conference. UTEP is also now on board in all sports.

Though Wyoming and its oldest rival, Colorado State, have agreed to a 10-game contract, which will begin this September (there is currently no scheduled meeting in 2027), the Border War rivals are no longer in the same league. The Rams, along with San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah State and Boise State have all bolted for the reimagined Pac-12.

The Cowboys have also in recent history lost annual tilts with traditional rivals BYU and Utah. Wyoming and Utah State also play for Jim Bridger's rifle. There have been no talks about resuming that rivalry, according to a source.

Can the Bison fill that intraconference void?

"I don't see why not," senior linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz said. "Yeah."

Sawvel added rivalries are good for the conference. He also said he wishes the Cowboys weren't making the 12-hour trek to the Fargodome this October. To make things even more difficult, it's homecoming weekend.

"Geographically, I guess it's us and Northern Illinois that would be about the closest ones to them," he continued. "In terms of fan base and the way that the fan bases are, we're probably much more in line with NDSU than what Northern would be."

Polasek's squad has also lost some longtime adversaries with their move to the FBS. The annual in-state skirmish with North Dakota is now off the schedule. So is the heated battle for the Dakota Marker with South Dakota State. The Bison will play a one-off against Montana State in Las Vegas in 2027.

Griffin Empey, a junior guard in the Bison front five, was courted by UW out of Stoughton High School in Wisconsin. He even went on an official visit to Laramie. His recruiter? Polasek.

That relationship obviously didn't waver.

He said the "grassroots" of both programs are in lockstep.

"I think it'd be a really cool rivalry," Empey added. "A lot of people that live in Wyoming and North Dakota are blue collar. More like tough. We live in these cold winters and we get all this snow. It's all this stuff. I think that our fan bases would appreciate the rivalry with each other, and I think the teams would, too.

"I think we both strive to play a very similar brand of football: physicality, running the ball and a defense flies around. I think it'd be a really cool thing to get going."

The Cowboys and Bison have met on the football field just one time. That came inside War Memorial Stadium back in September of 2008. Joe Glenn's team, which finished the season 4-8, outlasted Bohl's bunch in a low-scoring affair, 16-13.

Can this develop into a heated yearly meeting? From the sounds of it, something is already brewing.

Polasek said there is only one aspect of this upcoming game that he viewed as a missed opportunity.

"Coach Bohl went in the Hall of Fame for NDSU last year," he said, adding the old ball coach wouldn't love the 'Bohl Bowl' moniker. "Could you imagine if (this year against UW) he was going in the Hall of Fame?"

Who will Bohl pull for in this one? His son is the Cowboys defensive coordinator, after all. Polasek knows blood is thicker than water.

"I think he's going to have to root for Aaron a little bit more than he's going to root for the Bison."

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