Oct. 5, 2000

LAS VEGAS - A team from the Mountain West Conference will play a representative from the Western Athletic Conference in the inaugural Silicon Valley Football Classic, bowl director Chuck Shelton announced Thursday.

The one-year agreement guarantees the MWC at least three bowl teams for the second time in as many seasons. The league also has annual tie-ins with the AXA Liberty Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl. "This is a major step for the Mountain West Conference," UNLV Director of Athletics Charles Cavagnaro said. "Knowing that three out of the league's eight teams are headed to postseason play makes a statement about the quality of our league."

The Silicon Valley Football Classic is slated to be played Dec. 31, 2000, at 3:30 p.m. PST and be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.

"This is an exciting opportunity for the Mountain West Conference, particularly allowing us to stay in the West," Thompson said. "It parallels our league mandates of a quality opponent in a geographical part of the country that makes sense."

The game will be played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif., and pit the champion of the WAC's western division and one of the top three teams in the MWC.

"It's nothing but good for our conference," UNLV Head Coach John Robinson said. "I grew up in the Bay Area and it is a great place. This game will not only offer another opportunity for our league's teams to have a bowl experience, but to also do it in a fantastic setting." Heightening interest in the game will be the fact that all eight members of the Mountain West were formerly members of the WAC.

"A WAC vs. MWC match-up should provide for a very successful inaugural game for the Silicon Valley Football Classic, and lay a foundation for the bowl to prosper in future years," WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said.