The off season has been busy for bowl organizers. Back in February we welcomed the Mountain West Conference to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl family. The Mountain West has agreed to join us in New Orleans this year. The MWC is no stranger to the R+L Bowl. Colorado State and San Diego State have both made appearances in New Orleans, 2001 and 2011 respectively. The addition of the Mountain West family doesn’t mean a goodbye to the Conference USA. C-USA is still a apart of the family and will continue to be apart of the bowl rotation against the Sun Belt in future years.
C-USA
The Conference USA has always played a big part of the New Orleans Bowl. C-USA Teams, Memphis and Southern Miss, have New Orleans Bowl victories under their belt. Even though we won’t see the C-USA in New Orleans this year, we will be watching them and reporting their successes here at RLBowl.com. Their line up for 2014 looks like this:
5 Maybe 6 Bowl Games
- Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Mountain West)
- Boca Raton Bowl (MAC)
- Bahamas Bowl (MAC)
- Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Mountain West)
- Heart of Dallas Bowl (BiG 10)
- Duck Commander Independence Bowl ** (A C-USA team will fill if the ACC or SEC does not fill its slot)
MWC
The Mountain West sent Colorado State to the first ever New Orleans Bowl in 2001. San Diego State returned in 2011 when the C-USA was unable to send a team. We predicted that the Mountain West may have 7 or 8 bowl games this year and we weren’t far off the mark. With a guaranteed 6 games they could hit that high mark of 7 for the season. Read our full review of the MWC here: Welcoming the Mountain West. In 2013-2014 the conference won 3 and dropped 3 games in their 6 bowl appearances. Colorado State and San Diego State both won their bowl games in 2013. Here is the line up for MWC for this season:
Mountain West Bowl Game Line Up
- Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl (Pac-12)
- San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (Navy)
- Hawaii Bowl (Conference USA)
- Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Conference USA)
- R&L Carrier New Orleans Bowl (Sun Belt)
- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (MAC)
SBC
The Sun Belt has played in all 13 of the New Orleans Bowl games. The SBC has 8 wins over that span. Most recently the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has won the last 3 consecutively. The Sun Belt has recorded wins against the Mountain West, Conference USA and defeated the Ohio Bobcasts of the MAC in the New Orleans Bowl. Their bowl set for 2014 is listed here:
The Sun Belt Bowl Games
- GoDaddy Bowl (MAC)
- R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Mountain West)
- Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (MAC)
Games of the Week
Stay tuned here at RLBowl.com or follow the #RLBowl on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ for more New Orleans Bowl news. We will begin our #RLBowl games of the week, featuring Mountain West and Sun Belt teams, in late August right here on the Fan Zone.
