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C-USA reaches
agreement with New Orleans Bowl
Conference
USA News Release
CHICAGO — Conference USA has
reached a multi-year agreement with the New Orleans Bowl to provide a team
for its annual game beginning with the 2002 season. The C-USA representative
will play the champion of the Sun Belt Conference at the Louisiana
Superdome, home of Tulane University and site of Super Bowl XXXVI. The
agreement gives C-USA four bowl tie-ins for the 2002 season.
The 2002 New Orleans Bowl will be played on Tuesday, December 17 at 6:00
p.m. CST and will be televised by ESPN 2. The game will kick off the 2002-03
bowl season.
"We are looking forward to playing in the New Orleans Bowl. This fourth bowl
provides additional postseason opportunities for our players and coaches,"
said Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive. "The addition of the New
Orleans Bowl and its close proximity to several of our schools provides the
opportunity for our players to showcase their talents in a great city, in a
great football state like Louisiana, and as well as to the rest of the
nation on ESPN."
In addition to having Tulane play in the Superdome for its home football
games, five other Conference USA institutions are within 500 miles of New
Orleans.
"We're very excited to be able to add a high quality opponent from
Conference USA," said New Orleans Bowl Executive Director Ron Maestri.
"We've made a commitment to make the New Orleans Bowl a special event for
the participating teams and their fans, and this agreement with Conference
USA helps us do that."
The inaugural New Orleans Bowl was played last December. Colorado State
defeated Sun Belt Conference champion North Texas in the first game. That
game, which was televised by ESPN2, drew a 1.37 national rating, making it
(at the time) the third-most watched bowl game on ESPN2 since the network
began broadcasting bowl games in 1997.
Football-playing members of the Sun Belt include: Arkansas State, Idaho,
Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State
and North Texas.
"We at the Sun Belt Conference are very excited to begin this special
relationship with our friends at Conference USA," said Sun Belt Commissioner
Wright Waters. "Conference USA brings many quality football programs to the
New Orleans Bowl table. This will be an exciting venture as we continue to
make the New Orleans Bowl a success."
The champion of Conference USA will play in the AXA Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
C-USA's other bowl agreements are with the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama and
with the Houston Bowl (formerly galleryfurniture.com Bowl).
Conference USA's seventh football season gets underway on Saturday, August
31.
Visit C-USASports.com.
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