 CLEVELAND, Ohio – Five Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams will be playing in bowl games this year as invitations were extended Sunday afternoon. Northern Illinois (GoDaddy.com Bowl), Western Michigan (Little Caesars Pizza Bowl), Ohio (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl), Temple (Gildan New Mexico Bowl) and Toledo (Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman) will represent the MAC in bowl games this season.
“I am pleased for the student-athletes, coaches and fans at our five MAC member institutions that have received bowl invitations,” said Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, Commissioner of the Mid-American Conference. “The commitment of the student-athletes to excel has earned them this opportunity. I like our bowl lineup and the matchups. I look forward to watching the MAC teams compete with others during the bowl season.”
This year’s five bowl invitations also matches the conference record as this marks only the fourth time in MAC history (2004, 2008 and 2009) for the conference to receive five bowl invites.
The complete MAC bowl schedule is as follows: All times are Eastern.
Dec. 17: Gildan New Mexico Bowl – Albuquerque, N.M. 2:00 pm ET (ESPN)
Temple (8-4, 5-3) vs. Wyoming (8-4, 5-2, Mountain West Conference)
Note: Temple is making its second bowl appearance in the last three years. In 2009, Temple suffered a 30-21 loss to UCLA in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, DC. This will be the first bowl appearance for the Owls under first-year head coach Steve Addazio.
Dec. 17: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Boise, Ida. 5:30 pm ET (ESPN)
Ohio (9-4, 6-2) vs. Utah State (7-5, 5-2, Western Athletic Conference)
Note: The Ohio Bobcats won the MAC East Division and suffered a 23-20 loss to Northern Illinois in the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game on Dec. 2. Ohio will be making its third consecutive bowl appearance (2010 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl; 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl) under head coach Frank Solich. The Bobcats have received a bowl invitation for the fourth time in the last six years.
Dec. 27: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl – Detroit, Mich. 4:30 pm ET (ESPN)
Western Michigan (7-5, 5-3) vs. Purdue (6-6, 4-4, Big Ten Conference)
Note: Western Michigan is making its second bowl appearance in the last four years (2008 Texas Bowl). For head coach Bill Cubit this will be the third bowl appearance for the Broncos in his seventh year at the helm of the program.
Dec. 28: Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman – Washington, D.C. 4:30 pm ET (ESPN)
Toledo (8-4, 7-1) vs. Air Force (7-5, 3-4, Mountain West Conference)
Note: Toledo will be making its second consecutive bowl appearance under third year head coach Tim Beckman. Last year the Rockets suffered a 34-32 loss to Florida International in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Toledo will be making its conference leading 12th bowl appearance in program history (8-3 record in bowl games).
Jan. 8: GoDaddy.com Bowl – Mobile, Ala. 9:00 pm ET (ESPN)
Northern Illinois (10-3, 7-1) vs. Arkansas State (10-2, 8-0, Sun Belt)
Note: Northern Illinois won the Marathon MAC Football Championship with a 23-20 win over Ohio on Dec. 2, the first MAC championship for the Huskies since 1983. Northern Illinois will be making its fourth consecutive bowl appearance (2010 uDrove Humanitarian Bowl; 2010 International Bowl; 2008 Independence Bowl). This will be the first bowl appearance under first-year head coach Dave Doeren. Last year, the Huskies defeated Fresno State 40-17 in the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl.
Courtesy of Mid-American Conference
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