The Sun Bowl football selection committee voted Wednesday to go with the Atlantic Coast Conference over the Big East Conference for the next bowl cycle from 2010-13, Sun Bowl committee chairman John Folmer told The Tampa Tribune.
The Sun Bowl, played in El Paso, Texas, will get the fifth selection from the ACC and the fourth selection from the Pac-10. The Big East had offered its third selection or Notre Dame when available, but Folmer said his committee thought the ACC offered more.
"At the end of the day it was based on what overall we thought is best for the people of El Paso," Folmer said. "We haven't seen the ACC in so long, we think it will be good."
USF played in the Sun Bowl once, a 56-21 loss to Oregon in 2007.
Folmer said if it went with the Big East, the Sun Bowl would have been allowed to select Notre Dame once in the four-year span, but having to pick behind the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando realistically would have made the Irish available only once in three years - if the Irish didn't get a BCS bowl.
Losing the Sun Bowl, which had a hybrid deal with the Gator Bowl and the Big East for the past three years, is a big blow to the Big East's bowl lineup.
It's unknown if the Big East will renew the bowls it had during the 2006-09 cycle - Meineke Car Care, Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg and International - to complete its 2010-13 lineup or seek other bowls such as Eagle Bank, Emerald or Independence.
The Big East announced Tuesday a new deal in which the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando will get its second selection from 2010-13.
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