MAC may have more bowls in 2006

[Arkstfan]

The latest on the Albuquerque Bowl is being effected by the potential folding of the Houston Bowl. If Houston doesn't come up with the  cash to pay the teams from last year, they are going to be suspended by the NCAA. If Houston goes way, look for Albuquerque to become a Big 12-MWC bowl.

←

Actually the HOT rumor is that if Houston folds that the Liberty will become SEC vs. Big 12 leaving CUSA in the cold.

[badgerwolf]

As for "more bowls than the SBC will ever have," they have two. One of the two has said it will fold unless Hawaii is the host team most years. After the 2004 season, the SBC also got two bowl bids.

←

If the Burque Bowl comes to be, consider this comment from the ABQ Journal:

LOCAL INTEREST:

"Unless UNM (or at least NMSU) is involved, regardless of the weather, it's a stretch to think such a game could draw 25,000 fans -- the average attendance over a three-year period required by the NCAA for a bowl to survive."

"No, don't count on ABQ/New Mexico fans turning out to see Colorado State play Louisiana Tech, or to watch Nevada have it out with UNLV -- just as Nevadans stayed away when the Lobos played UCLA and Oregon State in the 2002 and 2003 Las Vegas Bowls."

If UNM is not in this bowl . . . If Hawaii is not in their bowl . . . ???

[shaft]

I like how everyone is an expert in conference expansion and wrong at the same time.

The WAC is not a step up for NT, because the Cons of increased travel cost and less exposure out weigh the benefits of playing in a mildly more competitve conference.

Rice, SMU, and Tulsa came as a package. All 3 schools had already made it known they were leaving the WAC together. Rember the talk a few year back about a new D1 conference trying to reunited the SWC? Or the articles the year before that about SMU, Rice and Army trying to form a private school conference?

The ALBQ. bowl will be a WAC/MWC match up.

The MWC is more interesting it getting a Big 12 tie-in for the Denver bowl.

And why are we sweating other conferences bowl tie-ins? This last round of conference realignment is going to result in bowl realignment. There are going to be some new bowls (Denver, NYC, Arlington) which means some other bowls will fold. The SBC commish is working on creating access to other bowls. Or do we hate WW too, because he gave DD all those coach of the year awards?