Three additional college football bowl games will be added in 2014, ESPN has reported. Including the College Football Playoff, there will be a total of 38 bowl games after the 2014 regular season.
Back in August, ESPN Regional Television announced the creation of the Camellia Bowl, which will feature a match-up of teams from the MAC and Sun Belt Conference.
The three new bowls will also feature games between members of the five non-power conferences (The American, C-USA, MAC, MWC, and Sun Belt). The conferences provide teams to the three bowls on a rotating basis rather than having set tie-ins.
“The non-power leagues were denied opportunities in other bowls, so they had to create opportunities for their teams,” a source told ESPN. “The new bowls are a result of existing bowls not entertaining opportunities for those five [non-power] conferences.
“The old days for one conference to have a deal are dead. It will be very fluid.”
Here are the details on each new bowl game. More info will come after the games are officially announced (Note: all games use working titles pending sponsorship).
Bahamas Bowl
The Bahamas Bowl, which will be officially announced on Oct. 14, will be played at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau. The stadium seats 15,000, but can be expanded to hold up to 30,000.
Teams from The American, C-USA, MAC, MWC, and Sun Belt will appear in the bowl
Update: The Bahamas Bowl has been officially announced. The MAC will play the American Athletic Conference in the Bahamas Bowl in 2014 and Conference USA in 2015.
Boca Raton Bowl
The Boca Raton Bowl will be played at FAU Stadium, the home of the FAU Owls of Conference USA.
Teams from C-USA, MAC and The American will appear in the bowl.
Update: The Boca Raton Bowl was officially announced on Oct. 11. It will be a pre-Christmas bowl game and will be televised nationally on ESPN or ESPN2. The MAC will play Conference USA in the Boca Raton Bowl in 2014 and the American Athletic Conference in 2015.
Miami Bowl
According to ESPN, this bowl is expected to be played at Marlins Park, which is the new home of the Florida Miami Marlins.
A team from The American will be the “anchor,” with the opponent rotating between C-USA, MAC, MWC, and Sun Belt.
Update: The Miami Beach Bowl was officially announced on Oct. 24. A team from the American Athletic Conference will participate each season against a team from C-USA, MAC, or Sun Belt. Teams from other conferences could also play in the game.
Bowl Schedules