Bowl options increase for Cajuns, Sun Belt

The Sun Belt Conference is hopeful of soon having a primary tie-in with a new college football bowl game in Austin, Texas, that received NCAA certification approval earlier this week.

Although earlier in the day there was some uncertainty regarding whether the bowl will actually be staged in 2015, and which conferences would have primary affiliations with the game, Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson suggested to the Daily Advertiser on Wednesday night that his league anticipates supplying a team for the new venture.

"While there has been no official announcement we look forward to one soon," Benson said.

If the Austin game indeed materializes, it would mean UL and its fellow Sun Belt members would have five primary bowl tie-ins this season.

The NCAA on Tuesday approved three new bowl games for 2015. Their sites: Orlando, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona.

Reports from major national websites conflicted as to whether the SBC would have a tie-in with Orlando's new Cure Bowl, but a Sun Belt rep indicated Wednesday that the matchup there is SBC vs. a team from the American Athletic Conference, as previously announced.

"That game is good to go," Sun Belt spokesman John McElwain said by phone from Phoenix, where head football coaches and athletic directors including UL's Mark Hudspeth and Scott Farmer are gathered for meetings.

ESPN.com, USA Today and CBSSports.com all reported Tuesday night that the new game in Texas would match teams from the Sun Belt and the American.

The Austin American-Statesman on Wednesday, however, quoted Lance Aldridge, executive director of the Austin Sports Commission, as saying "everything is fluid."

The newspaper also reported that Aldridge said he should know within the next 2-to-3 weeks if putting on a bowl in 2015 is even feasible, that there's no firm agreement with any conference and he's still negotiating with NBC and CBS about broadcasting the game.

The Sun Belt's commissioner, though, seemed quite optimistic late Wednesday.

"We believe Austin will be a great site for a bowl game for the Sun Belt," Benson told the Advertiser, "and that we will provide a very competitive team from within the region that will bring thousands of passionate fans to the city of Austin this coming December."

If the game is staged this year, it's possible it would be played at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, 100,000-plus capacity home of the University of Texas Longhorns.

The Sun Belt already has tie-ins with the New Orleans Bowl (which UL has won four straight times); the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Alabama (which SBC-member Arkansas State has been to four straight times); and the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama (which SBC-member South Alabama went to last year).

A proposed new bowl in Little Rock, Ark., that would have included a Sun Belt team applied for NCAA approval, then withdrew after postponing plans to stage that game in 2015.

If the Austin game is held as Benson seems to expect, 82 teams would go bowling after the 2015 regular season.

CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd, however, reported Tuesday that "the Austin game will feature a matchup between teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt" and that "in Tucson and Orlando, representatives from Conference USA and the Mountain West will meet."

Last April, when official announcement of the Cure Bowl in Orlando was made, that game was initially billed as American Athletic Association vs. Sun Belt.

A Sun Belt spokesman on early Wednesday afternoon was not able to immediately clear up the confusion, texting "Nothing new from us to report on bowls."