MAC Adds Bowl Game

[UNTLifer]

MAC adds International Bowl to postseason lineup

By Katie Carrera, The Post

May 4, 2006

(CSTV U-WIRE) ATHENS, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference will have its third guaranteed bowl spot with the addition of the International Bowl in the 2006 season.

Slated for a noon kickoff Jan. 6, 2007, in Toronto, Ontario, the game will match a second or third selection from the MAC against a fourth or fifth selection out of the Big East Conference. The Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome), with a capacity of 53,506, will house the game.

Associate Commissioner for the MAC Bob Gennarelli said there is a great deal of excitement about the game within the conference.

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"I don't think there was a bigger priority on our to-do list for the 2006 season than to find a guaranteed third bowl spot," he said. "Historically the league has been tremendously undeserved in post-season play."

The MAC already participates in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, where it faces a Big-Ten Conference team and the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alaska, against a Conference-USA opponent.

Ohio's Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said the extra game benefits the MAC as a whole.

"The approval of the NCAA just speaks volumes as to the quality and current state of MAC football," he said. "The International Bowl will give us the ability to protect our divisional champions and send another team to a bowl. Last season our West Division winner Northern Illinois wasn't invited to a bowl game, and that is a situation that should not happen."

Of the 31 bowl games the NCAA licensed for the upcoming season -- three more than last year -- the International Bowl is the only one to be played outside of the United States.

There were several reasons the Big East partnered with the MAC to create the bowl, Nick Carparelli Jr., associate commissioner of the Big East, said.

"We felt that playing a bowl game in Toronto would be a good opportunity for our student athletes," he said. "Both the MAC and Big East are cold-weather conferences, and not many bowls are in that region. Toronto is a place that is within driving distance for most of our fans or at the most a very short flight."

Last year, the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee denied proposals for the bowl.

"The reason it was rejected last year was because the management plan for the game was not all buttoned up, and that's when (executive director for the game) Ken Hoffman became more personally involved and decided to run the bowl," Carparelli said. "He has a good track record with the Motor City Bowl, and the committee has a lot of faith in him, so that's what really pushed it over the top."

In addition to the International Bowl there are three other new bowl games for next season: the Birmingham Bowl in Alabama; the New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque, and a fifth BCS bowl game in Glendale, Ariz.

Updated on Thursday, May 4, 2006 9:00 pm EDT

[VideoEagle]

I saw a very interesting message from Arkstatefan on the Sunbelt board as to why the SBC didn’t try for one of the new bowls. It boils down to putting up $350,000 and who has to put up the money.

Here’s the link.

[DeepGreen]

Toronto? That should draw some big crowds.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Toronto?   That should draw some big crowds.

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Hey Phil, is that the stadium in Canada where about 40,000 baseball fans once got quite an EYE FULL from the couple in one of that stadium's hotel rooms which over-looked the field?