BOISE, Idaho– Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson and Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl executive director Kevin McDonald today announced they have signed an agreement for 2009 that begins a new relationship pitting Mountain West teams against top opponents from the Western Athletic Conference in the Boise-based Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl.
“The Mountain West Conference is excited to partner with the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl for the 2009 season and looks forward to a continued relationship in 2010 and beyond,” said MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson. “The MWC has averaged five bowl-eligible teams over the past several seasons. We are pleased to secure a fifth guaranteed slot for our member institutions in this established and respected game.”
Qualifying teams will be selected according to each conference’s criteria for bowl participation, with the Mountain West Conference committed to send its fifth-place finisher, if the team is bowl-eligible, to the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl.
All bowl relationships nationwide – including those for Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl – will be re-set for the bowl games that follow the 2010 regular season. That nationwide re-set gives Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl a potential opportunity to attract highly-ranked national programs.
“Boston College, Miami, Fresno State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Boise State have played in the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl,” McDonald said. “Our goal is to retain and grow this caliber of competition by increasing payouts to bowl teams.”
A team representing the Western Athletic Conference has participated in the Humanitarian Bowl each of the last eight years.
“Over the past several years the WAC and Mountain West have demonstrated a very high level of national success on the football field – both regular season and in the bowl season. We look forward to carrying that success – and rivalry – over into Roady’s Humanitiarian Bowl,” said WAC Commissioner Karl Benson.
“As Roady’s Truck Stops continues its rapid growth in the West, this new alliance with the Mountain West Conference is a fit that makes good business sense for our team,” said Mike Knee, Roady’s Truck Stops’ project manager for the bowl game. “We look forward to teams from the Mountain West Conference having the same high quality experience that we’ve delivered to visitors from the Southeast. They just may be a little more familiar with our traditional winter sports day activities than athletes from the ACC.”
Idaho-based Roady's Truck Stops is the nation's largest chain of truck stops, catering to the professional driver and traveling motorist in 45 states with over 400 retail locations. The 12th Annual Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, sponsored by Roady’s Truck Stops, will be held at Bronco Stadium in Boise, ID on December 30, 2008, at 2:30PM Mountain Standard Time.
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