University of Connecticut Athletics
Two New Bowl Games Added to BIG EAST Slate
4/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. (April 28, 2006) -- The NCAA Postseason Licensing Subcommittee has approved applications for bowl games in the cities of Toronto, Ontario and Birmingham, Alabama. Both bowls will make their debuts this season and have tie-ins to the BIG EAST Conference. University of Connecticut Athletics Director Jeffrey Hathaway sits on the subcommittee which, during meetings this week in Orlando, also approved a bowl game in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the creation of a fifth game for the Bowl Championship Series to serve as a National Championship Game.
The International Bowl will be played on January 6, 2007 at noon at Toronto's Rogers Centre (formerly known as SkyDome), home of MLB's Toronto Blue Jays and the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. It will be shown in the U.S. on ESPN and pit the fourth or fifth selection from the BIG EAST against the second or third pick from the Mid-American Conference.
The game will be only the second bowl game ever played outside of the United States. On January 1, 1937, Auburn and Villanova played to a 7-7 tie in the first and only Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba. The International Bowl won't be the first time an American football game has been played at the Rogers Centre as the NFL hosted "American Bowl" preseason games there in 1993, 1995 and 1997.
Postseason football will return to Birmingham, the self-proclaimed "football capital of the south," on Dec. 23, 2006 with what is tentatively being called The Birmingham Bowl. The contest will be played at hallowed Legion Field and pit a BIG EAST school against one from Conference USA. The game will be operated by ESPN Regional which also owns and operates bowl games in Honolulu, Las Vegas and Fort Worth, along with the newly-minted contest in Albuquerque.
Birmingham and Legion Field previously played host to the Dixie Bowl (1947-48), Hall of Fame Bowl (1977-85) and the All-American Bowl (1986-90). It was also the site of the first two Southeastern Conference Championship Games in 1992 and 1993. Built in 1926, Legion Field is perhaps best known as the home of the annual "Iron Bowl" between Alabama and Auburn from 1948-98. Legion Field was one of the Crimson Tide's primary home fields for over a half of a century, including the entire tenure of legendary head coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant who was 68-15-5 at Legion Field, leading the Tide to six national championships and 13 SEC titles. The 1996 Olympic soccer competition was played there along with professional football teams from the World League of American Football (now NFL Europe), the CFL and XFL. Presently, Conference USA's UAB Blazers call "the old gray lady" home.
Along with the new International and Birmingham Bowls, the BIG EAST Conference also has arrangements for 2006 with the Gator, Sun, Houston and Meineke Car Care Bowls while a BCS bid awaits the league's champion. The five-game, 10-school BCS now includes a national championship game in addition to the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose Bowls. The still-unnamed BCS title game will be played on January 8, 2007 at the new Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
With the NCAA shifting to a 12-game regular season on a permanent basis this fall, the subcommittee also approved a measure which will permit 6-6 teams to receive bowl bids provided that they are a member of a conference that has an existing contractual affiliation with the sponsoring bowl organization. Previously, a school had to have a winning record (6-5 or better) to earn a bowl bid. If that conference cannot fill its bowl obligations with at least a 6-6 team, then the bowl may seek a replacement team from another league, but that team must have a winning record. Failing that, any 6-6 team would be eligible to fill the spot.
As part of its meeting, the subcommittee also reviewed bowl revenues and distributions from the 2005-06 postseason. In reviewing the 2005-06 bowl season, the subcommittee noted that approximately $191.5 million in bowl revenue was distributed to participating teams and conferences, and about 1.4 million fans attended the bowl games. Approximately 5,300 student-athletes experienced the postseason football bowl games.
