The Huskies’ bowl destination has become a lot murkier with their ascension into the BCS Top 25. The national spotlight, coupled with several conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac-10, unable to fill their bowl tie-in requirements, has NIU’s landing spot very much still up in the air.

It currently appears that multiple bowls will be taking at-large bids: the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas, the Hyundai Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco.

The Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl in Detroit, which has first choice in MAC teams and gets the eighth place Big Ten team, will most likely also be seeking an at-large team with two Big Ten teams expected to receive BCS invitations.

The bowl also has a secondary agreement with the Sun Belt Conference; however, Middle Tennessee State must upset conference-leader Florida International this weekend in order to become the Sun Belt’s third bowl-eligible team.

Therefore, the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl will also most likely turn to an at-large bid. The Louisville Courier-Journal has reported that Louisville, Boston College and Georgia Tech were all under consideration for the game.

Most bowl projections, including ESPN and CBS Sports, believe that the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl will select NIU as its MAC representative.

Even if NIU is selected, the Huskies ultimately may not play in Detroit.

With the MAC having six bowl-eligible teams and only three automatic tie-ins, the conference will look into at-large bids to ensure more of its teams secure bowl bids.

“It definitely appears that there are going to be several at-large bids, and we’ve been in contact with many,” said MAC Assistant Commissioner Ken Mather. “The MAACO Bowl is one, but there remains a lot moving parts with a weekend of college football to go. We are working with our partners and schools to ensure the best matchups.”

The MAACO bowl is considering NIU because of those factors. The bowl, which has tie-ins with the Mountain West and Pac-10, is considering at-large bids for its Dec. 22 matchup due to the Pac-10 not having enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the committment.

“It would take a miracle for the Pac-10 to fill the spot so we are definitely looking at an at-large bid,” said bowl representative Mark Wallington. “NIU, and all of the MAC teams, are on our list to potentially fill the spot.”

With TCU in line to capture a BCS bid, Utah will most likely be the MWC’s representative in Las Vegas.

While NIU Athletic Director Jeff Compher considers Utah to be a quality opponent, he doesn’t see the MAACO Bowl as a likely destination.

“There’s an outside shot of that, but unless things change in the next two or three days, I highly doubt us going outside of our three main bowl partners,” Compher said.

The Pac-10 will also be unable to fulfill it’s commitment to the Hyundai Sun Bowl; however, the committee was not aware that NIU was an at-large option.

“We haven’t discussed NIU because we thought they were locked into the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl,” said Trenten Hilburn, Media Relations Director for the Hyundai Sun Bowl.

Upon learning that NIU was not committed to Detroit, Hilburn said that the committee would be interested in the Huskies.

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, however, is not one of at-large bids to be interested in NIU, according director of communications Doug Kelly.

The Hunger Bowl, which figures to land No. 11 Boise State, has a tie-in with a secondary conference if the Pac-10 is unable to fill its spot, but Kelly declined to specify which conference.

Even if the MAC is unable to secure an at-large spot for NIU, the conference could make a deal with the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl to ensure the Huskies receive “the best possible matchup.”

One of those potential matchups would send the Huskies to Boise for the Humanitarian Bowl to face No. 17 Nevada.

Kevin McDonald, executive director for the Humanitarian Bowl, said that a Nevada against NIU matchup is a scenario that the committee is strongly considering.

“We’ve been looking at NIU for well over a month,” McDonald said. “They have been playing well all year and seem to be getting stronger. We believe that a matchup between NIU and Nevada is the best we can offer.”

According to McDonald, the interest between the Humanitarian Bowl and NIU is mutual.

“That’s something we’ve heard from NIU,” McDonald said. “That they’re looking for the best possible matchup and believe Nevada may be that.”

Compher confirmed NIU’s interest in playing in the Humanitarian Bowl.

“Getting a chance to play a team like Nevada would be great for our program and our fans,” Compher said. “It’s a possibility we have explored.”

While NIU and the MAC have several options, the Huskies won’t be able to make travel plans for a few more days.

“Things have been quite hazy,” Compher said. “Hopefully by Sunday night we will be able to tell our fans where we are heading.”