Bowl season is upon us! No less than five state universities will participate in college bowl games in South Florida (Michigan), Atlanta (Michigan State), Tucson (Central Michigan), Mobile (Eastern Michigan) and Ford Field in downtown Detroit (Western Michigan).
The Lending Tree Bowl on December 18, 5:45 p.m. on ESPN, features the EMU Eagles (7-5) of the Mid-American Conference and independent Liberty Flames (7-5) in Mobile, Alabama. EMU is coached by Chris Creighton and Liberty by Hugh Freeze, who guided them to two straight bowl wins. EMU is 1-4 in bowl games.
Detroit’s Quick Lane Bowl, December 27, 11 a.m., pits the Western Michigan Broncos (7-5) and Nevada Wolf Pack (8-4) on ESPN. WMU (Mid-American Conference) is coached by Tim Lester and the Wolf Pack (Mountain West Conference) by Jay Norvell. WMU is just 1-8 in bowl games all-time.
Tickets for the Quick Lane Bowl are available at www.quicklanebowl.com or in person at the Ford Field Ticket Office, Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Fans can follow on Twitter (@quicklanebowl). The Quick Lane Bowl’s economic impact on Detroit since 2014 is estimated at $4.1 million with $327,000 given to area charities that helped feed 527,000 in seven years.
This is the seventh year of a multiyear agreement for Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center as the title sponsor of an annual college football bowl game at Ford Field. The Detroit Lions own, host and operate this college football bowl game. The team’s entertainment division, DLI Entertainment, has promoted multiple large-scale shows and hosted the MAC Football Championship since 2004. A contingent of Ford Field and Detroit Sports Commission officials attended the Big Ten Championship and are making a pitch for downtown Detroit to wrestle the title game to Ford Field.
MSU’s no. 10 Spartans (10-2) under Big Ten Coach of the Year Mel Tucker play the Pittsburgh Panthers (11-2) in the Chick-fill-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, December 30, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN/WJR 760). MSU enjoyed a terrific season led by star Kenneth Walker III, a junior running back, and sophomore QB Payton Thorne. MSU is 13-16 all-time in its bowl games.
The Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl, December 31, 2:00 p.m., matches the CMU Chippewas (8-4) and Boise State Broncos (7-5), ESPN/WXYT 1270. The Chips play in the MAC Conference and are coached by Jim McElwain while the Broncos of the Mountain West Conference are led by coach Andy Avalos. SMU has only a 3-9 bowl games record.
The no. 2-ranked U-M Wolverines play New Year’s Eve, 7:30 p.m., in the Capitol One Orange Bowl in Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens (ESPN/WWJ 950). Michigan has won five straight games under Jim Harbaugh and qualified for the CFP national semifinals for the first time. They play a very formidable Georgia Bulldogs team which was ranked no. 1 until it lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game, December 4 in Atlanta.
The contest is to determine which school punches its ticket to the CFP National Championship game, January 10, at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. The Alabama-Cincinnati December 31 game will determine the other CFP finalist. A win by U-M over Georgia would return Michigan to the site of their 42-3 thrashing of West champion Iowa, on December 4, in the Big Ten title tilt.
Michigan is led by junior QB Cade McNamara, running backs Blake Corum, Donavan Edwards and Hassan Haskins and senior DE Aidan Hutchinson, most valuable player in the Big Ten title game and a finalist for the 2021 Heisman Trophy. U-M owns a 21-27 all-time bowl games mark.
Reach George Eichorn at georgeeichorn@gmail.com.
