The American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences have formed an alliance to participate in four new bowls that will debut in 2014, ESPN reported on Monday.
The games will take place in Boca Raton, Fla., Miami and the Bahamas and only involve schools from those leagues.In August, the MAC and Sun Belt announced the creation of the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., in 2014. That means there will be four additional games for a total of 39 bowls, including the College Football Playoff title game.
The Miami Bowl, created by the American Athletic Conference, is expected to be held at Marlins Park, home of the Miami Marlins. The American Athletic will be the “anchor” conference, and its opponent would come from the other four non-power leagues, a source said.
In August, ESPN reported that the Bahamas Bowl will be held at Thomas Robinson Stadium and would be the first postseason bowl played outside the United States since the International Bowl in Toronto (2007-10).
A news conference will be held Oct. 14 to officially announce the Bahamas Bowl. All five non-power leagues will rotate in the game.
The source told ESPN that the new bowls are a result of existing bowls not entertaining opportunities for the five non-power conferences.
That makes 39 bowls in all now. Too much? Not in my book. I want to see more college football being played, not less.