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The Arizona Bowl, was in limbo for this year as the bowl was looking to secure a sponsorship but now that seems to be the case and the bowl is scheduled to be played this year.
Tuscon Bowl Exec. Dir. Alan Young tells me they have secured a title sponsor & the @CUSAFB/@MountainWest game will happen this year. (1/2)
— John Patrick (@JPktik) August 28, 2015
(2/2) Announcement on the title sponsor/date/TV partner will come in a couple weeks. Gives the @MountainWest 7 bowl partnerships
— John Patrick (@JPktik) August 28, 2015
This gives the Mountain West a seventh bowl tie-in and will be against a Conference USA team. Getting a seventh tie-in is a huge get for this conference to stay a step ahead of the rest of the Group of Five conferences.
It also has helped that the conference has been able to fill out all of its bowl slots, including having a team go to a BCS or a New Year's Day bowl game.
A seventh bowl game might seem excessive to some, but the Mountain West is giving up a spot in 2015 and 2019 to the Las Vegas and/or Hawaii Bowl as BYU will take up a Mountain West spot in each of those years. So, this added game makes sure all the bases are covered for the Mountain West.