TCU wait clouds bowl bids

With four Mountain West Conference bowl-eligible football teams — Utah, BYU, Colorado State and New Mexico — all packing 6-5 records, one might think the "M" might stand for "mediocre."

Actually, "muddled" is a better fit when it comes to bowl projections and the Mountain West's first time with five bowl-eligible teams (the aforementioned foursome and conference champion TCU, with its 10-1 overall mark).

The league has contracts with just three bowls — Las Vegas, Emerald (formerly San Francisco) and Poinsettia Bowl (a San Diego newcomer).

Also, the MWC has a contingency plan this year with the Fort Worth Bowl if either Conference USA or the Big 12 can't qualify enough teams. Fort Worth is to get the eighth team from the Big 12, but the Big 12 has only six qualified now. Two more need to upset ranked league foes in season finales this week — Texas A&M against Texas and Kansas versus Iowa State.

"You're rooting for Texas or Iowa State to win, if you're a Mountain West football fan," said MWC commissioner Craig Thompson.

Since the Southeastern Conference will not meet its Houston Bowl contract, several MWC teams are possibilities there — most notably TCU. The proximity (less than 300 miles from Fort Worth), the recruiting base and new NFL stadium as the bowl site make it attractive to the No. 15 Horned Frogs.

Meanwhile, the Liberty Bowl — which until this year paired the MWC and C-USA champions — could still figure into the mix by inviting an "at-large" TCU to face the C-USA champ, which will be decided by a Dec. 3 playoff.

But the Liberty Bowl is not as financially profitable for TCU as the Houston Bowl, and Fresno State is a recently mentioned Liberty possibility.

So, where TCU goes — to the Houston Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl or to the Emerald Bowl (if officials at the latter had their way in order to create a TCU-Fresno pairing) — is a key factor in the trickle-down of MWC bowl berths.

The Las Vegas Bowl has long eyed BYU, given the LDS Church membership — estimated at 100,000 — and Cougar Club presence in the area and driving distance from Provo. The bowl needs to draw at least 29,000 to its Dec. 22 game to preserve accreditation.

"It's a bowl game, but it's also a business," said Las Vegas Bowl executive director Tina Kunzer-Murphy.

A Vegas invitation was all but guaranteed the Cougars until Utah's 41-34 OT victory over BYU; it is expected still to be forthcoming.