Revamping the Pac-12 bowl tie ins

The Pac-12 bowl selections are out and personally I think they are a bit boring. It's time to change them up in my opinion, and working without the constraints of reality that  hold other people back, here is how I think the Pac-12 could improve their bowl slots.

#1 Rose Bowl - Some traditions don't need  to be held onto but the Pac-12 champion vs. the Big Ten champion on New Year's Day is one that needs to be maintained as long as it can be. No change needs to be made here.

#2 Las Vegas Bowl - I don't like the second-best Pac-12 team being sent out to San Antonio to play a quasi home game against a Big 12 team every year. I like the number two Pac-12 team against the number two Big 12 team, but how about we call up the Las Vegas Bowl and have them meet there instead on New Year's Eve? Las Vegas is an ideal locale, a fun nearby trip for both teams and their fans and relatively neutral. Let's make it even more fun by putting it on the night of New Year's Eve where the winning team and their fans can celebrate New Year's in Vegas.

#3 Holiday Bowl - The only other bowl I wouldn't change. I like the Holiday Bowl. Now that it is a Big Ten match-up, it seems a bit like a junior Rose Bowl to me (Pac-12/Big Ten in Southern California), it is a fun location that is out West but also not a Pac-12 town and always feels like the first bigger bowl of the year.

#4 Foster Farms Bowl - I say keep the Foster Farms bowl as the number four Pac-12 slot, but change everything else about it.

1. Move it to LA. Have the game in the eventual NFL stadium and until then or if that never  happens, have it in a fun/unique location - maybe the Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, The Neverland Ranch, etc.

2. Move it to the last Saturday before Christmas. Some bigger bowl needs to grab the pre-Christmas audience that is dying for a good game. This will also spread out the time between the bowl and the Rose Bowl so they don't bleed into each other.

3. Swap the Big Ten for the SEC. I know the SEC seems to never want to head out West, but the Pac-12 needs an SEC bowl tie-in and you can sell the SEC on playing in the nation's second-biggest market and the chance to recruit in the Southern California.

#5 Hawaii Bowl - I don't know how the Pac-12 went from two Hawaii bowls to none. They need to get Hawaii back. I would keep this as the match-up I love of a mid-Pac-12 team against the Mountain West champion or BYU and I would love having it in a neutral field on Christmas Eve when there are no other football games.

#6 Alamo Bowl - I don't dislike the Alamo Bowl, I just don't like the way it sets up now. It would be a better bowl to put a lesser Pac-12 team against a lesser Big 12 team. It's not too far of a trip for the mountain and the Arizona schools who will end up here a lot and Pac-12 teams love to recruit in Texas.

#7 Cactus Bowl - I would keep this one pretty much the same, though I would try to get an SEC team instead of a Big 12 team since there are already two Big 12 tie ins.

#8 Sun Bowl - An example of a tradition that does not need  to be maintained. When every media person and fan openly ridicules a bowl, it's time to keep pushing it down the line. The Pac-12 can maintain the Sun Bowl with an ACC matchup, but let's send the last Pac-12 team there. It will be perfect for a team that is just happy to get to a bowl and in this slot, it will usually get a program that doesn't go to bowls as much as others.

Also, the Pac-12 needs eight tie ins. With the parity of the conference and with 5-7 teams going bowling now, the conference should get eight automatics.