I had an opportunity to talk with the Fiesta Bowl PR Director Andy Bagnato yesterday about the implications of conference expansion on the Fiesta Bowl.

The Fiesta Bowl is one of the four BCS bowls and has a single tie-in with the Big 12. The Big 12 appears to be heading to a finally, possibly before the current BCS contracts expire for the 2013-2014 season. Andy was hesitant to feed the massive speculation explosion, agreeing that most of what is in print is written in Jell-O.

Andy was adamant that is was premature to discuss whether the folding of the BCS could jeopardize their BCS status. He also turned down an opportunity to discuss the MWC as a potential replacement if the relationship with the Big 12 became untenable.

"The Fiesta Bowl has been an integral part of the evolution of the college football postseason and the BCS," Bignato stated, with homage to this site's title, "Whatever happens, the Fiesta Bowl will remain significant in college football. There will always be good teams wanting to play in our January game."

The Fiesta Bowl was formed in 1971 to guarantee the WAC champion a bowl berth after Wyoming and Arizona State had solid performances and failed to secure bowls. In 1975 the Fiesta Bowl secured its first top 5 matchup by drawing Big 8 champion Nebraska to play undefeated Arizona State. In 1978 Arizona and ASU joined the PAC 10 and the WAC-Fiesta Bowl partnership ended and the game moved to January.

The 1987 game featured independents Penn State and Miami in a de facto national championship game. In 1989 the Fiesta Bowl secured a game between #1 Notre Dame and #3 West Virginia. This put the Fiesta Bowl in a position to become a part of the Bowl Coalition in 1992, which led to the formation of the BCS. The Fiesta Bowl has maintained a strong relationship with the Big 8 that eventually became the Big 12.

In three of the last seven years the Big 12 champion was unavailable for the Fiesta Bowl and the Big 12 runner up was not selected to replace them. Utah, Boise State (twice) and TCU filled in for the Big 12 in those years. With the MWC's approaching the BCS' criteria for an automatic qualification and historical root to the WAC membership that forged the Fiesta Bowl, the MWC appears to be a viable backup plan if the Big 12 dissolves, particularly if those left behind merge into the MWC.