Bowl Games

Big East Looks At Western Bowl Games For Expansion In '14

Published June 6, 2012

The Big East conference “has expressed interest in several western bowl games for 2014 and beyond, including possible bowls in San Diego, Las Vegas and Hawaii,” according to a conference document cited by Brent Schrotenboer of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The document states the Big East’s western football expansion in ‘13 “will expand interest in bowl games for the league.” The document lists the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Ft. Worth and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis as possible targets. Schrotenboer notes any discussions “are only preliminary, and decisions probably won’t be made until next year.” San Diego Bowl Game Exec Dir Bruce Binkowski, whose group operates the Poinsettia and Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowls, said, “We will certainly be interested in a match-up with the Big East (western teams) if we can pull it off. But we’re still not sure who the Big East-west is going to be” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/6).

BIGGER, BETTER TEAMS: The UNION-TRIBUNE's Schrotenboer noted the Holiday Bowl “wants to move up and be a bigger player in the new college football postseason.” Possibilities include “changing conference partners and bidding for better picks,” instead of hosting their usual “middle-rung teams.” Binkowski said, “We’re going to be aggressive. I don’t know what that means, but we’re going to be aggressive.” Schrotenboer noted the move will “depend on two key factors." Those factors include an “increase in ticket prices” and the possibilities determined “by the fallout from several postseason changes being planned for 2014 and beyond.” Binkowski said that the fallout “might not be known for another year.” He added, "It is not our intention to be knocked down. It is our intention to see if we can move back up. We’re going to have to look at what the cost is going to be, but we’re going to look at moving up, if at all possible” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/2).

DETROIT WHEELIN': In Detroit, Terry Foster noted there is a "local movement under way to bring the BCS football championship game to Ford Field." Once the postseason format is finalized, Detroit will likely “make a bid and compete with the popular warm-weather cities” for the game. IndyCar and NASCAR team Owner Roger Penske said, “Things that are important and exciting in sports are things we need to do and we need to bring to our city." Lions President Tom Lewand “confirmed that Ford Field would be interested in hosting the game.” But he said, “Until we know what it will look like, it's tough to get into it." Foster noted Little Caesars Pizza Bowl co-founder Ken Hoffman “also believes Detroit is a good spot to hold the title game.” Hoffman said, "If (the cold) is not a detriment to the Super Bowl, I don't know why it would be a detriment for any other event. We understand the attraction of southern warm-weather bowls, but people also need to understand the value that other states have" (DETROIT NEWS, 6/4).

REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: The AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl yesterday announced a two-year agreement with the SEC, which will match the conference’s No. 9 selection (after the BCS selections) against the ACC's No. 6 for the ‘12 and ‘13 games. The announcement is a reunion for the two entities as they previously partnered for 15 years from ‘95-'09. This agreement ends the game's relationship with the Mountain West Conference, which began in ’10. The MWC has reached a two-year agreement with the Armed Forces Bowl for ‘12-13 (Independence Bowl).