Mountain West Bowl Options The bowl tie-ins for the conference, in order of when the game is played. After the Las Vegas Bowl chooses between BYU and the conference champ, the Cactus Bowl has second pick if (and when) the Big 12 doesn’t fill its obligations. New Mexico Bowl — Dec. 19 vs. CUSA: Likely destination for the hometown New Mexico Lobos to ensure a bigger crowd for the game. Las Vegas Bowl — Dec. 19 vs. Pac-12: Will be enticed to take BYU, which always draws well and at 9-3 is likely a better team than the eventual conference champion.If the game likes the MW champ, the pieces will fall differently. Idaho Potato Bowl — Dec. 22 vs. MAC: Could be a nice fit for Utah State, which is close by and not a hard trip for Aggie fans. Poinsettia Bowl — Dec. 23 vs. MAC: If San Diego State isn’t in the Las Vegas Bowl as the champion, the Aztecs likely stay at home. Hawaii Bowl — Dec. 24 vs. American: Somebody will fall into this bowl, which isn’t ideal for teams or fans because of the costs and proximity to Christmas. CSU, Nevada or even Boise State could land there. Heart of Dallas — Dec. 26 vs. CUSA: This is not an MW tie-in game, but a possibility when the Big 12 doesn’t fill spots. On the list for the sake of an outside shot for somebody. Armed Forces Bowl — Dec. 29 vs. Big 10: This game does like to have Air Force involved for obvious reasons. If not, possibly CSU. Arizona Bowl — Dec. 29 vs. CUSA: Maybe a fit for Colorado State as the pieces fall into place. Cactus Bowl — Jan. 2 vs. Pac-12: The Big 12 won’t fill its spots, so this one will choose early. If BYU is Vegas bound, they could take the MW champ or Boise State for the name recognition and draw.

Now they wait.

Colorado State capped the 2015 regular season with a 34-31 victory over Fresno State, securing a winning season for coach Mike Bobo in his first at the helm of the program.

For the third straight season, the Rams are bowl eligible and the Mountain West conference has more qualified teams for the postseason (seven) than bowl ties (six), thanks to BYU taking a place in either the Las Vegas or Hawaii bowls. But unlike 2013, when San Jose State was left out of the equation, MW associate commissioner for communications Javan Hedlund said all teams will find a landing spot.

“That’s great for the league,” Hedlund said. “All three years we’ve had 12 teams in two six-team divisions, we’ve had seven bowl-eligible teams. Having the opportunity to place all seven will be great for the league.”

It will happen because with 80 teams needed to fill 40 bowls, the NCAA does not have enough qualified teams . As of Sunday, only 75 were eligible, with three more (Kansas State, Georgia State and South Alabama) still having a chance. That means some bowls will draw from a pool of 5-7 squads to fill the gaps. By rule, bowl-eligible teams have to be placed first.

Good thing the Rams don’t care where they play, just that they are playing in the postseason. They’ll find out Dec. 6, after the announcements for the College Football Playoff and at-large bids are announced.

“I’m just happy we’re going to a bowl for my senior year, and I know the guys are, so we’re thankful for anything,” said Joe Hansley, the star of Saturday’s win with his three-touchdown performance, two of which came on first-half punt returns.

Before Colorado State can start making travel plans, they have to let things play out. Air Force and San Diego State are up first, facing off for the conference title. Then the Las Vegas Bowl gets to decide between the champion or BYU. If not Las Vegas, then BYU heads to the Hawaii Bowl.

From there, if the Cactus Bowl slot is open, that bowl picks next. After that, it is the conference and the bowls looking at matchups for what they feel serve their games best.

In that regard, the one decision that has likely been made is New Mexico will play in the New Mexico Bowl to help draw a bigger crowd to the game.

Until then, the Rams have other things to cover, such as getting healthy. Bobo and his staff will hit the road this week to recruit, with the players spending time in the training room and working on conditioning with the strength staff.

“The main thing is we’ve got a lot of beat-up guys in the locker room right now,” Bobo said. “We’ve got to do a good job of being smart, get them healthy, but still stay in football condition with the guys who are going to be playing.”

He said the team will likely practice on Friday and Saturday, but light workouts, focusing on the basics and keeping game ready until the Rams are handed an opponent and destination.

Most everyone on roster is dealing with something, but the CSU secondary has been hit hardest. Starting safeties Trent Matthews and Kevin Pierre-Louis have been playing injured, with Matthews going down late in the game and getting on the plane with crutches. Prime backup Nick Januska was also injured, but forced into action.

Starting corner Preston Hodges didn’t play, and early in the first quarter, his bookend DeAndre Elliott was out, leaving true freshman Braylin Scott and junior Tyree Simmons to carry the load.

In some way, the players are looking forward to the rest as much as the bowl game itself, at least this week.

“It’s a big week of recovering and being in the training room and getting rid of the bruises and things like that, get our legs right for the bowl season,” linebacker Kevin Davis said.

Noteworthy — CSU true freshman Izzy Matthews rushed for 140 yards in the victory, not only giving the Rams three backs with 100-yard performances on the season, but a trio who have rushed for at least 140 once. Dalyn Dawkins has done it twice, Jasen Oden Jr. once. Dawkins is the lone back with multiple 100-yard games with four. With Air Force’s loss at New Mexico on Saturday, San Diego State will host the Falcons in the Mountain West Championship game on Saturday (5:30 p.m.; ESPN2)

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/mbrohard