I recall your travails...happened to my friends too, but somehow they were early enough for a tailgate. Wasn't there some huge accident that day? I always suggest to people to go the extra 15 to 20 miles east on I-10 or I-60, then take I-15 south, and plan to arrive about 2 to 3 hours *before* game time, you will zoom right in. And of course, park near the exit. One can always shoot off I-15 to I-163, get off at Friars, park at Hazard Center, grab the trolley. All in all, it's not a great experience if driving in for the day. Best bet, come the day before and stay downtown.
All that being said, the Holiday Bowl committee people most prefer teams that haven't been here in awhile. In order, that would be UW, then Cal, then USC. Obviously, it will greatly depend on the Utah situation, but if they go to playoffs, I sense it will be UW over Cal, and that seems fine with most as Redbox isn't that bad. But if Utah drops to Rose, then certainly USC will be here over Cal or UW, and then it gets dicey. I generally agree with Ducky23's analysis above.