The Christmas Bowl could be in the Mountain West's Future, also maybe Dubai?

The proposed Los Angles Christmas Bowl could take a huge step in becoming a Mountain West Conference tie in this month. And that step could come as as early as Monday. The Christmas Bowl has been accepting proposals for title sponsorships and full naming rights that are destined to end on June 17. Bowl officials should know by that date if the bowl will be another step closer to reality in 2014, and perhaps the projected payout, which will be a key to attracting high profile opponents.

The Mountain West is expected to be the bowl’s "Anchor Conference" with a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team selection. The bowls other tie in could feature a team from the Pac-12 or Big 12 conferences in a rotating schedule. The bowl administration has also been considering a MWC showdown with the American Athletic or C-USA conferences with one of their top ranked teams.

The Christmas Bowl is far from a done deal even with a good sponsor. Currently, there 35 bowls with a total of seventy teams crowded into the postseason field. Any new bowl is faced with NCAA certification and licensing next year. For the Christmas Bowl that decision would come in April 2014. That approval was denied by the NCAA in 2010.

The proposed Christmas Bowl would start up beginning the 2014-19 postseason with its inaugural game set for the week of Christmas, 2014.

In addition to a possible Christmas Bowl, the 'group of five' conferences are considering other bowl games, and this bowl game in Los Angeles is one of those. Other cities being considered are Miami, Orlando, Boca Raton (Fla.), Little Rock (Ark.), Montgomery (Ala.), as well as international options like Dublin, Dubai, Toronto, and the Bahamas.

Toronto or the Bahamas are not too far away, but playing a bowl game overseas in Ireland or in the United Arab Emirates is highly unlikely.