The collapse of the Pac-12 and widespread conference realignment has led to countless questions. Among them: How can a two-team conference fill six bowl slots?
Answers have begun to emerge.
The Pac-12 announced Friday morning that its existing bowl partnerships will remain for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and that the games will be played by teams currently and formerly in the league. In addition to the DirecTV Holiday Bowl, held this year at Snapdragon Stadium, the Pac-12 also has tie-ins with the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, Starco Brands LA Bowl hosted by Gronk, Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl and Valero Alamo Bowl.
That means Oregon State and Washington State, the teams left in the “Pac-2,” could be invited to San Diego. So could one of the four new members of the Big Ten (Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington), the four new members of the Big 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah) or the two new members of the ACC (Cal and Stanford) — though the Holiday would likely avoid an all-ACC matchup by inviting the Golden Bears or Cardinal.
One or more schools also could be unavailable if they are participants in the College Football Playoff that expands to 12 teams this season. The Holiday Bowl will share the second Pac-12 selection (after the CFP) with the Las Vegas Bowl. In the ACC, the Holiday is slotted to receive a top-tier team.
”The DirecTV Holiday Bowl is excited to be able to make this announcement today,” Sports San Diego CEO Mark Neville said in a release.
Sports San Diego is the group that organizes the Holiday Bowl, which returns to Mission Valley this year after being hosted the past three seasons at Petco Park. USC beat Louisville 42-28 in last year’s game, with Trojans backup quarterback Miller Moss throwing a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdown passes before a crowd of 35,317.
“This is absolutely what is best for our bowl game, the San Diego community, and for the entire bowl system,” Neville said. “We look forward to staging one of the nation’s premier bowl matchups at Snapdragon Stadium this December.”
A kickoff date and time for the 2024 Holiday Bowl has not yet been announced. The game is played annually during the last week of December. Over the past decade, it has been scheduled most often on Dec. 27 or 28. The game is again expected to be broadcast on Fox, though no official announcement has been made.
