The University of Cincinnati football team probably will make its second straight trip to the Motor City Bowl in Pontiac, Mich., Dec. 29, but the Bearcats won't be sure until Conference USA's entire bowl picture is clear.

        That could happen in a matter of days — or not until Dec. 7, when Southern Miss finishes its regular season at Alabama.

        “What's happened over the last 48 hours is that we've become desirable to a lot of bowl games associated with our league,” UC coach Rick Minter said Monday.

        The Bearcats, 6-4 overall and tied for second in C-USA (5-2) with UAB and East Carolina, virtually secured a bowl bid with Saturday's 36-34 win over Memphis. Now they can wait for a bowl to choose them while they prepare for Saturday's regular-season finale at Nippert Stadium vs. Louisiana-Monroe.

        The Motor City Bowl still makes the most sense, because it is within driving distance for UC's fans, 11,000 of whom showed up last season at the Pontiac Silverdome to watch the Bearcats lose to Marshall. If UC ends up there again, it would face Toledo from the Mid-American Conference.

        But the Motor City picks last among C-USA bowls and must wait to see what the GMAC (Dec. 19 in Mobile, Ala.) and galleryfurniture.com (Dec. 28 in Houston) bowls decide before inviting UC.

        If Southern Miss, which is already bowl-eligible, beats Alabama (or at least plays well), the Golden Eagles will become more attractive to the GMAC and galleryfurniture.com bowls, freeing UC for the Motor City Bowl.

        UAB remains in the hunt, too. The Blazers play at Pittsburgh on Saturday. If they win, they'll be 7-4 and would provide an attractive team for nearby Mobile. And if TCU beats Southern Miss on Thursday, the Horned Frogs would be an attractive option for nearby Houston, especially paired against Texas A&M of the Big 12 in an old Southwest Conference rematch.

        There's an outside chance C-USA's bowls could work out a deal in which the GMAC and galleryfurniture.com bowls would release UC so the Motor City Bowl could invite the Bearcats immediately.

        Minter said he would like to know UC's bowl as soon as possible so he can begin planning, but he's OK with any of the options. Considering a half-century has passed since UC last played in consecutive bowl games, the Bearcats are just happy for a bid.

Little may return to goggles Motor City not UC's only bowl option Xavier, UC to meet in NCAA volleyball tourney UC women's team signs four

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