For years, Mountain West Conference football fans groused about the league's contract that sent its champion to the Liberty Bowl, saying that Memphis, Tenn., was too far, and too expensive, to travel to, especially during the holidays.
The MWC addressed that issue, severing ties with the Liberty Bowl a couple of seasons ago. Now, the league has four bowl tie-ins — all in its own back yard.
But how many teams, and fans, will be happy about spending the holidays in Albuquerque?
After New Mexico was snubbed last year despite posting a 6-5 record, Lobo supporters rallied and created their own bowl game — the New Mexico Bowl, which will debut on Dec. 23.
What it means is that for the first time, the MWC won't have to engage in last-minute scrambling to find bowls for its bowl-eligible teams, thanks to four homegrown games: the Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Fort Worth and New Mexico bowls. All are played at MWC stadiums.
The Las Vegas Bowl, which is entering its 15th season, is the king of the group and will have the first pick of all bowl-eligible MWC teams — it does not have to select the conference champion.
After that, the remaining three bowls will negotiate for the remaining bowl-eligible teams in the conference (teams with 6-6 records are considered bowl-eligible).
Officials of the four bowls don't necessarily want local teams for their bowls, however, because the goal is to attract out-of-towners to boost the local economy. The New Mexico Bowl can pick New Mexico only once in a three-year stretch.
Yet, Albuquerque isn't exactly viewed as a destination for MWC football fans.
Las Vegas is.
Last December, tens of thousands of BYU fans descended on Sam Boyd Stadium for the Las Vegas Bowl, where the Cougars lost to California. Bowl officials were thrilled, to say the least, by the biggest turnout in the game's history.
"Last year was a real turning point for our bowl," said bowl director Tina Kunzer-Murphy.
The conference, as well as the teams in the conference, want to help the Las Vegas Bowl — and its $1 million payout — to grow, just as the Western Athletic Conference did with the Holiday Bowl 20 years ago.
Should a MWC team be selected for the Bowl Championship Series, the Las Vegas Bowl's payout would be somewhat less than $1 million, according to Kunzer-Murphy.
Breaking into the BCS has become a little easier these days. Beginning this season, teams finishing in the top 14 of the BCS standings are eligible to receive a BCS invitation. A top 12 finish was required last year.
Champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences automatically qualify for a BCS berth, as does Notre Dame, as long as the Fighting Irish finish in the top eight of the BCS rankings. The MWC can earn a spot if one of its teams finishes in the top 12 or top 16, if it's ahead of a BCS conference champion.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com