Instead, the bowl elected to invite the Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference.

Houston played in its first-ever Las Vegas Bowl, while San Diego State appeared for a second time, the first being a 1998 loss to North Carolina.

The most recent prior meeting was on October 6, 1973, when the Cougars defeated the Aztecs by a score of 14–9.

San Diego State responded with 34 unanswered points, leading to a 34–10 win by the Aztecs.

On the first play of the Aztecs' first drive in the 4th quarter, Donnel Pumphrey broke the all-time FBS career record for rushing yardage.