Mountain West aligns with bowl in Arizona, talks with Australia

The Mountain West will align next season with the new bowl in Tucson, Ariz., and the conference has been in talks with establishing a postseason game in Melbourne, Australia.

The bowl in Tucson will be Dec. 29, and will match teams from the Mountain West and Conference USA. That is one of three new bowls; the others will be in Austin, Texas, and Orlando, Fla.

As for the Australia game, talks have been ongoing for several months, but an agreement is far away. The Pac-12 Conference is the other league involved.

Several issues need to be resolved, such as how teams would be selected given the long travel and all the logistical problems that would cause.

Also, the Mountain West has decided not to change its divisional format and remain with the two division winners playing for the conference football championship at the site of the higher-seeded team. However the Idaho Statesman in Boise reported the CBS Sports Network has declined the option to televise the game. No announcement has been made on which network will air it.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65