Big Ten's Alamo Bowl spot in danger?

We previously reported the shocking news that there will be no Alamo Bowl in 2009. Now comes word that the Big Ten may be replaced as an Alamo Bowl partner...

Subscribe to Penn State Clips via Email

The Pac-10 is in discussions with the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio for a possible contract to begin after this season's pacts expire. The per-team payouts could potentially position the bowl to earn an alternating spot with the Holiday Bowl, long a holder of the Pac-10's No. 2 pick behind the Rose Bowl, for the second and third choices.

The Alamo Bowl was represented at last week's Pac-10 summer meetings. The league is expecting to know whether it will have a firm offer by the end of the month.

"We're determining the marketplace," said Alamo Bowl spokesman Rick Hill. "We're still talking to our current partners, but we want to investigate the landscape."

The Alamo, regionally tied to the Big 12, wants to continue with that arrangement, but would like to enhance the profile on the other side. The Big Ten's top three slots are taken by the Rose Bowl and the two lucrative Florida bowls, the Outback and Capital One.

It will be interesting to see how the Big Ten's bowl picture shakes out over the next few years, as Citrus Bowl Stadium is a dump and the Big Ten may consider swapping the CapOne Bowl for the Cotton Bowl.

[Hats off to Jay Christensen (a/k/a The Wiz of Odds) for alerting us to this story.]

Kindle: Amazon's 6" Wireless Reading Device

Follow Penn State Clips on Twitter