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New bowl games may be coming in 2020, and BYU Football can benefit

By Shaun Gordon

SAN DIEGO, CA - DECEMBER 21: Jamaal Williams #21 of the Brigham Young Cougars carries the offensive player of the year award offstage after defeating the Wyoming Cowboys 24-21 in the Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium December 21, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - DECEMBER 21: Jamaal Williams #21 of the Brigham Young Cougars carries the offensive player of the year award offstage after defeating the Wyoming Cowboys 24-21 in the Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium December 21, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Three more bowl games may be coming to college football in 2020. If so, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the additions would be BYU Football.

Reports have surfaced that three new bowls will be added in college football, diluting an already watered-down postseason.

But BYU Football can benefit from this.

According to Brett McMurphy, there will be a few changes to bowl games and their tie-ins in 2020. Along with the three added games, the NCAA will also be changing the number of bowl tie-ins that each conference can have.

The NCAA will make these changes official on July 1st, so things can change between now and then. But if they don’t, this will be the new number of maximum tie-ins for each conference:

  • SEC – 10 + Sugar Bowl
  • ACC – 10 + Orange Bowl
  • Big 10 – 8  + Rose Bowl
  • Pac 12 – 7 + Rose Bowl
  • Big 12 – 6 + Rose Bowl
  • American – 7
  • Conference USA – 7
  • Mountain West – 6
  • Mid-American – 6
  • Sun Belt – 5

If those numbers hold true on July 1st, then five teams will have one more tie-in starting in 2020 than they do now. Those five are the SEC, PAC 12, Conference USA, Mountain West, and Mid-American.

But the math doesn’t add up, and that’s where BYU can benefit. Three new bowl games means six new spots for potential tie-ins. However, there are only five new tie-ins among the ten conferences.

That leaves one open spot.

Only two teams could take that spot: BYU and Army.

Notre Dame is a part of the ACC’s bowl hierarchy. The other independent schools can only get an at-large berth when a conference can’t fill their full bowl roster.

So it comes down to the Cougars and the Black Knights, and there’s no question which school a bowl would rather have a long-term partnership with. Despite a horrid 2017 season, BYU remains a program that should be bowl-eligible most years. Plus, Cougar fans travel as well as just about any other team in college football.

With that said, where could BYU land if they look for a long-term tie-in?

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