MAC, Humanitarian Bowl working toward deal

The Mid-American Conference is working to create a partnership with the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, for the 2010 college football season.

Negotiations between the bowl and the MAC have been ongoing for six months, and the two parties are getting closer to an agreement that would secure a MAC team to the bowl for the next four years, according to Humanitarian Bowl officials.

“We really liked what we saw last year with Bowling Green,” said Kevin McDonald, the executive director of the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl. “They represented the conference well and we would be pleased to work with the MAC again.”

The Humanitarian Bowl was created in 1997 and has had a partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference for seven years before cutting ties after the 2008 game.

In 2009, the it had an all-time high television rating of its 13-year existence. The game was between the Western Athletic Conference’s Idaho and the MAC’s Bowling Green. Idaho won 43-42 with a last-minute two-point conversion to end the game.

Many leagues have already made their decisions on bowl games and, if the Humanitarian Bowl and MAC are unable to make an agreement and the bowl cannot fill the other spot in its game, it may be looking at the end of its existence.

The bowl also tried to bring teams from the Pac 10 and Mountain West to Boise, but was unsuccessful.

“Our focus is on the MAC, and we think it’s a good matchup that you don’t get to see very often,” McDonald said.

Replacing the International Bowl

In 2009, the MAC had seeds reserved to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit, the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and the International Bowl in Toronto.

The league recently cut ties with the International Bowl and is looking to replace it with the Humanitarian Bowl. Members of the International Bowl were not available for comment.