EL PASO, Texas – The Sun Bowl Association, Pac-12, ACC, Big 10 Conference and Big 12 Conference have come to an agreement for the 2024 and 2025 college football seasons where the 10 schools leaving the Pac-12 will still play in Pac-12 affiliated bowls the next two seasons and not in bowl tie-ins with their new conferences.
The announcement came following the recent conference football media days and conference meetings.
“We are grateful and excited to still maintain our relationships with teams that are making moves,” Sun Bowl Executive Director Bernie Olivas said. “This will help the transition in the future, whatever that may be.”
The contracts between the conferences and the bowls don’t end until after the 2025 season. With only Oregon State and Washington State remaining in the Pac-12 in 2024, the six bowls with Pac-12 ties could not be filled without drawing from other conferences.
Due to the mass departure of Pac-12 schools, all stakeholders agreed that the former Pac-12 programs, referred to as “Pac-12 legacy schools,” along with Oregon State and Washington State, would continue to participate in Pac-12 bowl games until the new bowl contracts commence in 2026.
Oregon State and Washington State are the only two schools remaining with Pac-12 designation. Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC are now members of the Big Ten Conference. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah are now members of the Big 12. Stanford and Cal are now members of the ACC.
After the 12-team College Football Playoff field is selected, the former Pac-12 bowl-eligible teams will be considered part of the Pac-12’s bowl pool. This will keep Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington (Big Ten), Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah (Big 12), and Cal and Stanford (ACC) from participating in their new conference bowl games until 2026.
The six Pac-12 bowl tie-ins in 2024 and 2025 are the Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Los Angeles Bowl and the Independence Bowl (in 2024)/ESPN event bowl (in 2025).
The Rose Bowl, which is now part of the College Football Playoff rotation, is no longer tied to the Pac-12.
The order of selections made by the bowl games will remain the same, however, the process of the selections remains unknown.
The Alamo Bowl has the first pick from the Big 12 and Pac-12 after the College Football Playoff. It will be able to select any Pac-12 legacy school or Oregon State/Washington State, regardless of record if the teams are bowl-eligible.
Pac-12 SELECTIONS ORDER
College Football Playoff Semifinal: If Selected
New Year’s Six vs. New Year’s Six [Pac-12 Champion goes here if not in the College Football Playoff]
Alamo Bowl vs. Big 12
Holiday Bowl vs. ACC
Las Vegas Bowl vs. SEC
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl vs. ACC
LA Bowl vs. Mountain West
Independence Bowl vs. Big 12
ABOUT THE 91ST ANNUAL TONY THE TIGER SUN BOWL
Kellogg’s and CBS announced on Thursday, June 6, 2024 that the 91st Annual Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Game is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. The game will kick-off at Noon (MT) and be televised on CBS for the 56th consecutive year, which is the longest running partnership between one bowl game on one network.
The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, the second oldest bowl game in the nation, is the second of five bowl games being played on Dec. 31, 2024 and the only bowl game to be televised on CBS.
Tickets to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl go on sale Sept. 1, 2024 and can be purchased via Ticketmaster or by calling 915-533-4416. Fans can also purchase tickets in the Sun Bowl Association office at 4150 Pinnacle Street, suite 100 in El Paso, Texas.
For complete information on the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl go to www.sunbowl.org.