BOISE, Idaho — The Mountain West Conference will send a team to the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl in 2009 after the conference and bowl reached an agreement Thursday.

The Mountain West will send its fifth-place team to play a school from the Western Athletic Conference in 2009. One of the few bowl games in a cold climate, the Humanitarian Bowl had an agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference that ends after this year's game.

"The MWC has averaged five bowl-eligible teams over the past several seasons. We are pleased to secure a fifth guaranteed slot for our member institutions in this established and respected game," MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement.

Conference arrangements for all bowl games will be reset in time for the 2010 bowl season. Thompson said the MWC would like to continue a relationship with the game in 2010 and beyond.

"Our goal is to retain and grow this caliber of competition by increasing payouts to bowl teams," Humanitarian Bowl executive director Kevin McDonald said.

This year's Humanitarian Bowl will be played Dec. 30 at Boise State University's Bronco Stadium. Last year, Fresno State beat Georgia Tech 40-28.

TCU is a member of the Mountain West.