Salt Lake City Group Proposes Rocky Mountain Bowl In Utah
A group with Salt Lake City ties is "proposing a bowl game" called the Rocky Mountain Bowl, which would feature a Mountain West Conference (MWC) team against a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) team at the Univ. of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium, according to Lya Wodraska of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. MWC Deputy Commissioner Bret Gilliland: "The driving factor for us is real simple. We are trying to find postseason bowl opportunities for all our teams." Wodraska notes that four cities that already host bowl games -- Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Diego and Ft. Worth -- have ties to the MWC. Utah AD Chris Hill said that his "school doesn't have any association with the group" attempting to get the Rocky Mountain Bowl approved. He added that he "hoped his program is at a level where it consistently be tabbed for some of the higher-level bowl games." Wodraska reports the NCAA later this month will review the Rocky Mountain Bowl and two other postseason games -- the Congressional Bowl in DC, which would feature Army or Navy and an ACC school, and the St. Petersburg Bowl in Florida, which would feature a Big East team against a Conference USA team (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 4/18). MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson in a statement said, "For the past three seasons, the MWC has had five teams bowl eligible. We've had to depend upon the system for vacancies and have had to work creatively to find slots for our fifth team. Licensing of the Rocky Mountain Bowl will provide us an opportunity to guarantee that fifth bowl game for our membership" (DESERET NEWS, 4/18).
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: DC Bowl Committee co-Founder Sean Metcalf, whose organization is proposing the Congressional Bowl, said that officials will make a presentation April 30 to the NCAA and the committee is "expected to receive a response by the next day." Metcalf said that he hopes to formalize an agreement with the ACC "in a matter of days." Under the ACC deal, the conference would send its ninth-best team to the bowl, and if the conference does not have nine teams that are bowl eligible, the bowl "would include a team from the MAC" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/18).
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