There are 34 bowl games scheduled for the end of this year and the beginning of 2009, up one from last year.

First, that is way too many and means 68 teams will play in bowl games, more than half of 119 eligible schools.

The real sign of the excess is the Sun Belt Conference announcing it has signed agreements with three bowls, giving the worst conference in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) a total of four bowl possibilities. Four out of the eight schools (including UNT) could make bowls, if eligible.

Here are the bowls: The St. Petersburg Bowl, the Papajohns.com Bowl and the PetroSun Independence Bowl, in addition to the New Orleans Bowl that the conference has already been aligned with. The Sun Belt Conference champion will still play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

Of course there is a catch the terms call for bowl-eligible teams from the Sun Belt Conference to be the first available teams in these bowls if other conferences cannot fulfill their requirements.

The announcement came at the Sun Belt's annual Football Media Days are the agreements are effective for the 2008 and 2009 bowl games.

"This is an excellent opportunity for our football league for many reasons," said Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters. "It will give our teams a chance to play in regional bowl games, show that we can compete with quality opponents and prove that this league can attract crowds to games and influence TV ratings."

The St. Petersburg Bowl will play its inaugural game Dec. 20 at Tropicana Field and is scheduled to pit teams from the Big East and Conference USA. The 2008 Papajohns.com Bowl is scheduled to feature teams from the Big East and Southeastern Conference and will be played Dec. 29 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. Both games are owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN.

The agreement signed with the PetroSun Independence Bowl calls for that bowl game to receive the third choice to select one of the Sun Belt's bowl eligible teams if the contracted parties are not able to fulfill their requirements. The Independence Bowl would also receive the second choice to select a Sun Belt bowl eligible team should the St. Petersburg Bowl or the Papajohns.com Bowl not have an opening. The game is scheduled to have a team from the Southeastern Conference and Big XII and will be played Dec. 28 at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, La.

"We feel good about partnering with the Sun Belt Conference as a contingency partner for the 2008 and 2009 games," said PetroSun Independence Bowl Chairman Keith Bergeron. "Our primary agreements with both the Big 12 and SEC run through the 2009 game and year-in and year-out provide us with a great matchup. Now with 34 bowl games and nearly all conferences going anywhere from four to nine deep with bowl partners we felt it was necessary and good business to lock in a contingency plan in the unlikely event that we don't host a team from either the Big 12 or SEC. The Sun Belt and its member institutions offer a natural regional tie with Shreveport being within driving distance for fans of any Sun Belt school."

Should there be any ties in the Sun Belt standings, those three bowl games have the right to select the team of their choice.

At least this means football season is near.

1 Comments

Beth said:

There are too many bowl games!!! By creating so many different options, it doesn't mean anything when a team makes a bowl game. Schools, students and alumni used to get excited when their team was going to attend. It DID increase viewership and helped create a following of fans. However, now, it is an expectation rather than an accomplishment. They need to eliminate most of the bowl games and go back to the 10-12 games that actually mean something!!

July 22, 2008 3:10 PM

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