Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro put the University of Hawaii in the postseason with three quick-strike, fourth-quarter touchdowns Saturday night but it could take a while for the invitation to arrive and a choice of an opponent to be made.
Part of the lag in the process is that the Mountain West Conference, which has five contracted bowl openings, now has six bowl-eligible teams following the Rainbow Warriors’ 35-28 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas and could have a seventh if Wyoming (5-6) beats New Mexico (3-8) Saturday.
Teams that play a 12-game, regular-season schedule must win at least six games while a handful, such as UH (7-5), that played a 13-game slate are required to win seven.
People in the bowl industry said Sunday that the ‘Bows are expected to eventually end up in the Dec. 22 Hawaii Bowl against an opponent to be named from Conference USA, but the process could require at least a week.
Asked about UH, a Mountain West spokesman Saturday night would only say, “All options are on the table.”
Bowl pairings are a product of the conferences and their contracted bowls with considerable weight given to the wishes of the TV networks that carry them. ESPN Events, which owns or broadcasts the majority of the bowls, has historically been steadfast in wanting to keep UH in the Hawaii Bowl. Since the 2002 birth of the Hawaii Bowl, only once have the Warriors not appeared at Aloha Stadium when bowl eligible and that came in the 2007 season when they went to the Sugar Bowl.
Overall, there are 39 bowls this year meaning 78 available slots. As of Saturday, 71 teams had reached bowl eligibility and there will be at least 74 by the conclusion of play this Saturday since three games match pairs of five-win teams.
With a reduction in the number of bowls it does not appear there will be any teams with losing records in bowls this year, industry sources said. UH appeared in the 2016 Hawaii Bowl at 6-7 because there were not enough bowl-eligible teams.
The Mountain West and overall scenarios have been complicated this year by the closing of the San Diego-based Poinsettia Bowl, which had been contracted to match an MWC team against an independent.
But there are several possible MWC solutions. Should unbeaten Central Florida (10-0) lose, the eventual Mountain West champion (West Division champ Fresno State or Utah State and Boise State, who play for the Mountain Division title Saturday) could receive a berth in the New Year’s Six that goes to the highest-ranking champion from the Group of Five Conferences.
In addition, the Mountain West is the primary backup for the Arizona-based Cactus Bowl in the event that one of the contracted conferences, the Pac-12 or Big 12, is unable to send a representative. In the past, the Red Box Bowl, formerly the Foster Farms Bowl, has taken an MWC team when its conferences have been unable to meet requirements.
Six C-USA teams are already bowl eligible, Florida International (8-3), Alabama-Birmingham (9-2), North Texas (8-3), Middle Tennessee (7-4), Marshall (7-3) and Louisiana Tech (7-4). Two others, Southern Mississippi (5-5) and Florida Atlantic (5-6), could become bowl eligible.