Reports: Mid-American Conference to play in Arizona Bowl starting in 2020

The NCAA is expected to announce new bowl cycles after upcoming meetings in May, but per reports from Stadium’s Brett McMurphy, we may already know the details of the bowl game changes.

There are a lot of changes at the top levels of college football, of course, but the Mid-American Conference seems to have benefitted from the trickle-down effect of changes, as McMurphy reported on Tuesday afternoon the Mid-American Conference will replace the Sun Belt Conference in the Arizona Bowl starting in 2020.

The game, played annually in Tuscon, Arizona, since 2015, has traditionally matched up the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt, with the Mountain West going 3-1 in the matchup. The Arizona Bowl has been aired by the CBS Sports Network since 2017 after previously being a digital-native bowl game.

The Mountain West will still have a berth in the Arizona Bowl, making it the second MWC-MAC primary bowl, along with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho.

The Arizona Bowl will be paired with the brand-new Myrtle Beach Bowl as new primary MAC-affiliated bowls in 2020. The Myrtle Beach Bowl will rotate between the MAC, the Sun Belt and Conference USA, with each conference being featured at minimum four times between 2020 and 2025, and will be televised by ESPN.

With these two additions, the MAC will have six primary affiliated bowls starting in 2020. The MAC currently holds primary affiliations with the Dollar General Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Camellia Bowl and the Bahamas Bowl.