San Diego will receive a dose of “MACtion” for the holidays, with organizers of the Poinsettia Bowl announcing Thursday that a football team from the Mid-American Conference will appear in the annual game at Qualcomm Stadium.
The MAC selection will replace Army, which had contracted to play in the Dec. 23 contest but will not be bowl-eligible.
The San Diego Bowl Association has an agreement with the MAC to be a backup in case the Poinsettia’s primary team doesn’t win enough games to qualify for the post-season. As part of the deal, the MAC will be the primary conference to supply a team in 2017 and 2019.
“The Mid-American Conference is honored to be a part of the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl and provide yet another great destination for our students, fans and alumni,” said MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. “We are excited to have the opportunity to come to San Diego with an opportunity to play a competitor from the Mountain West Conference.”
The league is made up of schools in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York and Ohio. College football aficionados applied the “MACtion” label to the league for its Tuesday and Wednesday night games on ESPN.
Poinsettia Bowl organizers prefer to fill one of their two slots for teams a few years in advance, offering deals to Army, Navy and Brigham Young to play when they’re bowl-eligible. The other position goes to an entrant from the Mountain West, the league San Diego State plays in.
Selections from each conference will take place next month.
—City News Service