New Mexico and Stanford. They went on to defeat Washington State on the road to secure bowl eligibility at six wins, but lost to Oregon on the road after mounting a dramatic second-half come-from-behind rally, and to Oregon State in Tucson on a last-second field goal. The Wildcats' final game of the regular season was a 31–10 victory on December 6 in Tucson against Arizona State in the annual Territorial Cup rivalry game. With that win and a final regular season record of 7–5, Arizona accepted a bid from to the Las Vegas Bowl to face BYU. It was the Wildcats' first bowl appearance since the 1998 Holiday Bowl. Stoops' reputation in Tucson was mixed; while the Wildcats had a winning record and appeared in and won their first bowl game in ten years, many fans were divided during the season on whether he should be retained as head coach, as they expected Stoops to guide the team to an eight, nine or even ten-win season given the talent level and the offensive and defensive systems employed by the Wildcats (and with the overall talent level in the Pac-10 conference perceived to be not as strong as usual in 2008). While Stoops brought the Wildcat football program to a level of respectability which was lost during the era of John Mackovic, some fans were disappointed the program was not at the elite level of Stoops' former program Oklahoma or of perennial Pac-10 football power USC. However, Stoops was given strong votes of confidence by UA (later UNLV) athletic director Jim Livengood, by university president Dr. Robert Shelton, and by several prominent Arizona football boosters. On December 18, Stoops was rumored to be a candidate for the Iowa State head coaching job, which eventually went to Auburn assistant Paul Rhoads. On December 20, Arizona defeated BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. On December 23, Stoops was given a contract extension through the 2013 season by Livengood. "We're very pleased with the progress of Arizona football under Mike's direction," Livengood said. "His personal growth as a coach has been outstanding and we’re glad to continue moving forward with him as the steward for Arizona football." Stoops said on the news of his extension, "I'm very excited about the extension...The administration always has shown a commitment to what we’re doing, and this bolsters that support...We’re working hard to build stability and the commitment