By George Eichorn
College football snares the national spotlight this time of year. The post-season bowl season is upon us.
In Detroit the 8 th annual Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on December 26. Representing the Big Ten
Conference are the Minnesota Golden Gophers. And for the Mid-American Conference are the Bowling
Green Falcons. Kickoff is 2 p.m.
In Pasadena at the annual Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day the Michigan Wolverines play the Alabama
Crimson Tide at 5 p.m. This is U-M’s their third consecutive College Football Playoff Semifinal
appearance having lost their two previous semifinal games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
In Mobile, Alabama, on December 23 the Eastern Michigan Eagles of the Mid-American Conference play
the University of South Alabama (USA) of the Sun Belt Conference, 7 p.m., in the 68 Ventures Bowl at
Hancock Whitney Stadium which is the home field for USA.
The Quick Lane Bowl affords downtown Detroit another chance to shine as more than 20,000 fans are
expected from the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio converging at Ford Field. Last year’s bowl
saw the New Mexico State Aggies defeat the Bowling Green Falcons 24-19.
Bowling Green is 6-6 this season (5-3 MAC) while Minnesota is 5-7 (3-6 Big Ten). ESPN has assigned
Connor Quinn, Dustin Fox and Tori Petry (one-time Detroit Lions reporter).
Visit www.quicklanebowl.com, Quick Lane Bowl on Facebook (/QuickLaneBowl), Twitter
(@quicklanebowl) and Instagram (@quicklanebowl) for more information.
The Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential features CFP no. 1 Michigan, under coach Jim Harbaugh,
against CFP no. 4 Alabama, coached by Nick Saban, a future Hall of Famer. The 13-0 Wolverines were 9-0
in Big Ten play including the conference championship, a 26-0 thrashing of the Iowa Hawkeyes in
Indianapolis. Harbaugh was suspended by his university the first three games and the last three games
of the regular season by the Big Ten.
Michigan is led on offense by junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy, receiver Roman Wilson and backs Blake
Coram and Donovan Edwards. On defense, the Wolverines are led by Jason Graham, Will Johnson and
Mike Sainristil. U-M is without All-American (first Team) Zak Zinter following surgery on his broken leg
suffered in Michigan’s win over Ohio State on November 25 at Michigan
Alabama was 12-1 and 8-0 in the SEC. Saban has won seven national championships with the last in
- He owns an impressive 292-70-1 record as a college head coach.
Rose Bowl coverage on ESPN includes Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge;
ESPN radio features Joe Tessitore, Dusty Dvoracek and Quint Kessenich. Michigan’s Learfield broadcast
on flagship WWJ-AM 950 has Doug Karsch and Jon Jansen on play-by-play with Jason Avant and Jack
Miller contributing.
Eastern Michigan finished 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the MAC. The Eagles have appeared in more bowl
games since 2016 than any other MAC school as they play in their sixth bowl game in the last eight
seasons. Before 2016, EMU had earned the opportunity to play in a postseason bowl just once. Coach
Chris Creighton sports a subpar 46-61 record as Eagles head coach.
EMU and USA get the ESPN crew of Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb and Alyssa Lang. South Alabama is
on a short list of teams to play a bowl game in its home stadium, despite that fact EMU will be the home
team; the MAC was previously designated as the “home team” for the game. Ypsilanti radio station 89.1
FM has the radio broadcast.
Ticket prices start at $15 with a total of six different pricing locations throughout the stadium available
for purchase. Tickets and parking are available at 68VenturesBowl.com
Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com. Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters: On the Air by George B.
Eichorn with an Introduction by Ernie Harwell | Arcadia Publishing Books
Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters – Arcadia Publishing
Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters: On the Air by George B. Eichorn with an Introduction by
Ernie Harwell | Arcadia Publishing Books
Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters: On the Air by George B. Eichorn with an Introduction
by Ernie Harwell | Arcadia Publishing Books Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters: On the
Air
