If No. 9 Boise State doesn't make it into one of the prestigious Bowl Championship Series football games, Broncos fans could stay home for the holidays. That might not be a bad thing given the state of the economy and the rising cost of travel for fans.

One of the bowls where the Broncos could land is the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, played on their own blue turf.

The proximity of a school's fan base to bowl sites has been a significant topic of discussion among commissioners of the five conferences without automatic BCS bids.

"Geography and regional ties will be the most important it's ever been in this bowl season with what's going on in this economy," says Bob Gennarelli, deputy commissioner of the Mid-American Conference. For the MAC, having agreements with bowls in Detroit and Toronto helps because their fans can drive to both cities.

Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson says, "I think all of us would prefer to have regional, geographically aligned bowls, especially in light of the current economic climate."

Even so, the WAC will still place its champion, if it's not in a BCS game, in one of the league's aligned bowls against the highest-ranked opponent possible, no matter how far the trip, says Boise State athletics director Gene Bleymaier. That still could be the Humanitarian Bowl, which has agreements with the WAC and Atlantic Coast Conference. The Broncos have not played in the Boise bowl since the 2005 season.