The Big Ten and Pac-12 will have two more opportunities to play each other in California bowl games.
The Big Ten is set to announce new affiliations with the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco to play the Pac-12, starting in 2014. Conference commissioners Jim Delany of the Big Ten and Larry Scott and of the Pac-12, along with bowls officials, are scheduled to hold a teleconference today.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 have a long tradition of playing each other in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
A person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press the Fight Hunger Bowl is moving up in the Pac-12's selection order. It will have the fourth selection from the conference after the College Football Playoff, of which the Rose Bowl is a part, the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, and the Holiday Bowl. The Fight Hunger Bowl currently has the sixth selection from the Pac-12.
The person spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because an official announcement hadn't been authorized.
The Pac-12 has long been the geographic anchor conference for both California games.
Delany and Big Ten officials have talked openly about playing more postseason games in California and most of the speculation has focused on the conference landing in San Diego and San Francisco. The Big Ten will replace the Big 12 in the Holiday Bowl, sponsored by Bridgepoint Education.
The Big 12 plans to give its bowl lineup a more southern flavor by adding games in Florida and Tennessee.
The Fight Hunger Bowl has had tie-ins with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the service academies and BYU over the years. This season BYU will play a Pac-12 team in the final Fight Hunger Bowl played at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, if the Cougars are bowl- eligible. If not an ACC team is next in line. The Big Ten will now take that spot, giving the bowl far more stability.
The Big Ten is not locking in a selection order with its bowl partners in the hopes of keeping the process flexible and giving more teams a chance to play in more places.