The NCAA decided Wednesday that having two bowl games in San Diego is much more desirable than having one in San Jose. The NCAA subcommittee that certifies bowl games licensed the proposed second bowl game in San Diego and did not renew the license of the Silicon Valley Football Classic.

The development keeps the postseason bowl landscape at 28 games for the 2005 season. The new San Diego bowl game will be played Dec. 22, exactly one week before the highly successful Holiday Bowl.

"It's great news," said Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski. "I've been a proponent of this from Day One. It's great for the community and we're able to put on another major event."

Holiday Bowl officials are expected to officially announce the name as the Poinsettia Bowl at a news conference on Wednesday. A title sponsor also will be unveiled that evening.

The game will feature a Mountain West Conference team against an at-large opponent. The Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA strongly backed the game and are willing to provide a team. Navy, which plays as an independent, is also viewed as a possible opponent.

"The tie-in with the Mountain West gives San Diego State an opportunity to play in the game," Binkowski said. "The at-large gives us the ability of getting the best team available. As we get closer to the game, we'll know what our options are.

"This is kind of like the old days where you get to pick your team."

Binkowski allowed that there's a risk in not having a second automatic tie-in, especially if there should be a shortage of bowl-eligible teams. But he wasn't concerned over that possibility because he likes having the flexibility to pick from a pool of teams.

The bowl was the only new one added for the 2005 season. A group from Toronto fell short in its effort to be certified. It's believed that the Holiday Bowl's past record of hosting a game helped sway the subcommittee.

"We don't think it was easy," Binkowski said. "We didn't go in with perceived notions that it was a slam dunk."

Binkowski said the goal for the first edition of the game is to attract more than 40,000 fans. The payout for each participating team is expected to be $750,000.

It was a lack of fans that torpedoed the Silicon Valley Football Classic's hopes of being licensed for a sixth year. December's game between Troy and Northern Illinois attracted just 5,494 fans to San Jose's Spartan Stadium.

In terms of hoping San Diego State might be available to play in the Poinsettia Bowl, it should be pointed out that the Aztecs are the lone Mountain West team not to play in a bowl game over the league's first six seasons. San Diego State has played in just three bowl games in the past 35 seasons.

Contact staff writer Mike Sullivan at (760) 739-6645 or msullivan@nctimes.com.