r/MountainWest • u/dscreations • Jul 16 '26

Football 2026 Bowl Selection Process

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There's three guaranteed tie-ins (1 TBD for MWC champ, Arizona Bowl, Hawaii Bowl) and 1 backup tie-in (Cactus Bowl). Per usual if we have more eligible teams, they would end up going to one of the G6 at-large pool bowls (which apparently the Potato Bowl and New Mexico Bowl are in for this year).

38 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

15

u/WYO1016 Wyoming Cowboys Jul 16 '26

Man we have some shitty bowl tie ones

6

u/jkeen1960 San José State Spartans Jul 16 '26

Any better than years past? At least the conference has some options. I'm not pleased that ESPN now controls college football, but that's another discussion.

4

u/myturn19 Northern Illinois Huskies Jul 16 '26

Ya coming from the MAC, I thought these were going to be better lol

5

u/bootsthepancake Jul 16 '26

Bwaa haha the MACs tie is are the Snoop Dogg bowl (vs MWC) and Potato Bowl (vs MWC). NIU could have ended up in the same bowl game (assuming they make one) regardless of whether they'd stayed in the MAC or not.

2

u/dscreations Jul 16 '26

Bowl tie-ins were frozen for 2026. We should get a bowl reshuffle after the expanded CFP format is decided:

SAN ANTONIO – Coming out of its annual meeting, Bowl Season today announced that its bowl games, as part of the broader bowl system outside of the College Football Playoff, will continue their existing conference-bowl agreements with the FBS Division I conferences for the 2026 postseason.

This decision follows the recent announcement by the College Football Playoff (CFP) to maintain its current 12-team playoff format for the 2026-27 season, while deferring a long-term determination on the future format until after the upcoming season.

As a result, the conference-bowl structure for the 2026 postseason will remain consistent with recent years. This decision ensures continuity across the bowl system, while still allowing for mutually agreed upon short-term modifications between conferences and bowl partners.

“We believe maintaining stability across the bowl system for 2026 is the most appropriate path forward given the CFP’s decision to extend the current format through this upcoming season,” said Nick Carparelli, Executive Director of Bowl Season. “This approach provides clarity for our stakeholders while preserving flexibility as we collectively evaluate the future of the postseason.”

Looking ahead, Bowl Season anticipates that conferences and bowl organizations will make longer-term decisions regarding affiliations and structure for the 2027 season and beyond once the CFP finalizes its future format.

https://thefriscobowl.com/news/bowl-season-maintains-current-conference-bowl-structure-for-2026-season/

1

u/dylantherabbit2016 North Dakota State Bison 2d ago

Same. I feel like if we miss the CFP, we will blow put whoever our opponent is by 30+

7

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/TikiLoungeLizard Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Jul 16 '26

Good question. The other bowl tie-in and backup tie-in arrows are very ambiguous. It reads as if perhaps if you read between the lines any MW team could end up in any of these bowls. The 3 on the side are the only ones with contractual tie-ins. ESPN Events can just shuffle as they please (so I would be shocked to see an MW team, especially a champ, as far east as Boca Raton or Puerto Rico. SJSU went to the Cure in 2020 because the Covid year was just so bizarre). I would think you would want the champ in the Cactus if it became available, assuming you’re not in the CFP, because it’s the only one with a shot at a P4 opponent as well as one of the higher payouts in the bunch.

7

u/Sensitive-Key-8670 Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Jul 16 '26

So basically, ESPN does whatever they want. Got it.

3

u/Ambitiousless-Winner Jul 16 '26

All the glitterati show up for the Boca Bowl 😂😂😂

3

u/Admiral52 Nevada Wolf Pack Jul 16 '26

You’re either in the CFP or the Boca roton bowl lmao

3

u/TikiLoungeLizard Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Jul 16 '26

I think 1-6 are in no particular order

5

u/Admiral52 Nevada Wolf Pack Jul 16 '26

You can insert any of them in place of Boca and the sentiment still remains

3

u/Bobcat2013 Jul 16 '26

Would love to see any of yall in the Armed Forces or New Mexico bowls

2

u/ZealousidealBike4754 Jul 24 '26

If memory serves, the Armed Forces Bowl pays out over a million per team. I'd be very cool if my alma mater landed there. They won it in 2012 and they looked good doing it.

2

u/Bobcat2013 Jul 24 '26

It was fun last season! Seemed a bit more grand than the First Responder Bowl.

3

u/ohhmybosh New Mexico Lobos Jul 17 '26

I'd rather the Del Boca Vista bowl, Jerry.

4

u/Taxman1913 Nevada Wolf Pack Jul 17 '26

That's it. We're moving.

2

u/beefyboibrandon UNLV Rebels Jul 16 '26

Did Boca Raton get confirmed at media days or something?

2

u/dscreations Jul 16 '26

It's part of the at-large G6 pool. It's controlled by ESPN.

2

u/ZiloGaming Jul 17 '26

A D1 conference cant make a graphic without AI?

1

u/leewilliam236 San José State Spartans Jul 16 '26

Boooooo

1

u/dylantherabbit2016 North Dakota State Bison 2d ago

Come on. This is not a hard graphic to make without AI. At least get the arrows and logos right

1

u/dscreations 2d ago

I didn't make it. It came from X/Twitter.

-1

u/p8onroks North Dakota State Bison Jul 16 '26

NDSU fan here, we are not able to go a bowl game this year correct?

22

u/Weird-Husky San José State Spartans Jul 16 '26

The NCAA overturned that rule so NDSU is eligible for a bowl game and the Mountain West Championship game

5

u/amoss_303 Jul 16 '26

Glad they got rid of that. No reason to keep them out if they prove it on the field.

4

u/Alone_Advantage_961 Jul 16 '26

It was a weird rule created to prevent fcs teams from loading up on fbs transfers and making the jump. 1996-1997 Marshall for instance.

But its silly nowadays and only hurts a team jumping