Mid-American Conference strikes an alliance with the Military Bowl in response to Georgia Tech’s waiver

Just a few hours after Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher criticized the NCAA for manipulating the bowl system to allow Georgia Tech to play in a bowl game with a losing record, the MAC announced a one-year agreement with the Military Bowl to make sure one of the conference's bowl-eligible teams has a safe landing.

The MAC has three bowl tie-ins with an option with the Military Bowl, should the game not fill one or both of its spots. This year, the Military Bowl would be unable to fill the spot reserved for Army and the spot for the ACC.

Steinbrecher blasted the NCAA for not following its own rules an allowing Georgia Tech a waiver despite several teams from the MAC, WAC and Sun Belt being bowl eligible with winning records. The MAC has seven bowl-eligible teams, so it needs as many at-large options as possible.

The MAC has had two teams play in the Military Bowl, which is based in Washington D.C., in the past three years. Last year, Toledo defeated Air Force 42-41, and in 2009, Temple lost to UCLA 30-21 when the bowl was called the EagleBank Bowl.

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