CLEVELAND, Ohio — College football bowl season is here and seven Mid-American Conference teams are set for the postseason, with Toledo playing in arguably the best game of the seven, vs. Temple in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday. “We hope to win our share,” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said.
Historically, the MAC is 32-50 in bowl games. All seven MAC teams had records of 7-5 or better. Two MAC teams, Ohio University and Akron, are riding winning streaks of three and four games, respectively. In most bowl games, MAC teams are underdogs.
Following are the matchups, beginning with Saturday’s game featuring OU vs. Appalachian State.
Saturday – Camelia Bowl, Montgomery, Ala., 5:30 p.m., ESPNU
Ohio University (8-4) vs. Appalachian State (10-2): The first bowl game ever for Appalachian State. The Bobcats are a staple in the postseason under coach Frank Solich, in his 11th season. OU is on a three-game winning streak, including a road upset over Northern Illinois.
Tuesday – Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Boise, Idaho, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Akron (7-5) vs. Utah State (6-6): When the conversation turns to too many bowl games, this is Exhibit A. The Zips are “rewarded” after building their record exclusively by beating teams with losing records. On the other sideline, the Aggies are not only .500 on the season, but limp into this contest losers in three of their last four games and four of their last six.
Tuesday – Marmont Boca Raton Bowl, Boca Raton, Fla., 7 p.m., ESPN
Toledo (9-2) vs. Temple (10-3): This is one of the MAC’s two marquee bowl matchups as both teams were in and out of the AP Top 25 poll much of the season. The Rockets will be playing their first game under new head coach Jason Candle, who replaced Matt Campbell after he departed for Iowa State. Temple, a former member of the MAC, never defeated a MAC team with a winning record while a member of the league.
Wednesday – San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, San Diego, Cal., 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Northern Illinois (8-5) vs. Boise State (8-4): Not quite on the level of Toledo-Temple, but a solid matchup as the Huskies are making their eighth straight bowl appearance, a record for a MAC team. NIU will be playing with its No. 5 QB as all others are injured. Neither team won its conference championship, but both were contenders throughout the season.
Wednesday – GoDaddy Bowl, Mobile Ala., 8 p.m., ESPN
Bowling Green (10-3) vs. Georgia Southern (8-4): The second top-shelf matchup for the MAC, although both teams lost their head coaches after the regular season. The Falcons have new man Mike Jinks in place, though defensive coordinator Brian Ward is interim coach for this game. The Eagles are still on the coaching hunt and will have interim Dell McGee in charge. Bowling Green will also be without starting defensive lineman Michael Minns, who was recently arrested on drug charges and suspended from the team.
Thursday – Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, Nassau, Bahamas, Noon, ESPN
Western Michigan (7-5) vs. Middle Tennessee State (6-5): WMU coach P.J. Fleck was expected to be snapped up by a power conference team, but that never happened. Now the first order of business is to get a bowl win, which would be the first in six chances for the Broncos. Consider this a jump start to the 2016 season when the Broncos will arguably be favorites to win the league. This is one of the few bowl games where a MAC team is actually favored to win.
Dec. 28 – Quick Lane Bowl, Detroit, Mich., 5 p.m., ESPN2
Central Michigan (7-5) vs. Minnesota (5-7): The plus for the Chippewas is they sold all their tickets to the local game against the Big Ten entry. The negative is CMU has the burden of not losing to a bowl team with a losing record. The Gophers struggled to wins over MAC teams Kent State and Ohio early in the season and now are breaking in new coach Tracy Claeys.
No comments:
Post a Comment