Teams for Local Bowl Games Still Unclear

As the college football season draws to a close, the matchups for San Diego's two bowl games are still up in the air, a rarity with the games just weeks away, a San Diego Bowl Association official said.

No slots have been filled for the Dec. 28 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, which includes a pre-game parade. .

As for the Dec. 21 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, only one berth is filled, that by the Western Athletic Conference champions Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, Mark Neville said.

The Bulldogs will face an opponent from the Mountain West Conference.

As it turns out, however, both MWC leaders -- TCU and Boise State -- are still in contention for a prestigious Bowl Championship Series game. If neither makes it, the Las Vegas Bowl will choose between the two, and most of the online bowl projections say that will be the Boise State Broncos.

“We will take the other,” Neville said. “We will gladly take TCU and their 10-2 record and Top 20 ranking.”

If one does go to a BCS game, neither will be available for the Poinsettia Bowl. According to Neville, the choice would then come down to San Diego State, which played in the game last year, or Wyoming. Both have 7-4 records, but one of the Cowboys wins is over the Aztecs.

Neville said it would be a tough choice because Wyoming fans have a “good history” of fans traveling to bowl games, and one of the aims of the association is to fill hotel rooms during the traditionally slow week before Christmas.

SDSU has numerous other possibilities, including games in Albuquerque, New Orleans and San Francisco, and risk an outside chance of being left home since there are more eligible teams than games. The pecking order with Wyoming could be determined if one wins and the other loses on Saturday.

The Holiday Bowl's prospects are also dependent on the BCS.

The game matches teams from the Pacific-12 Conference and the Big 12 Conference, and whether either or both leagues get two teams into BCS contests will determine which team winds up in San Diego.

On the Pac-12 side: “We're assuming both Stanford and Oregon will go to the BCS,” Neville said. “We're most interested in Cal or Washington -- whichever the Alamo (Bowl, in San Antonio) takes, we'll take the other and be happy.”

Both candidates finished 7-5.

With the Big 12: "We've heard every possibility under the sun," he said. Prospects include Baylor – with Heisman Trophy candidate Robert Griffin III at quarterback – Texas, Missouri and Kansas State.

Neville said there have never been so many variables so late in the process as this year.

– City News Service