Central Michigan to face Minnesota in Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit
The Central Michigan football team takes the field Oct. 17 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium (Photo by Monica Bradburn | Assistant Photo Editor)
The Chippewas won’t have to travel very far for their bowl game this season, and are likely be joined by a large part of their fan base when they get there.
Central Michigan will face off with Big Ten foe Minnesota at 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 28 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Minnesota finished the season 5-7 and 2-6 in Big Ten play.
CMU Athletics has scheduled a press conference regarding the team’s bowl bid at 5 p.m. today. Head Coach John Bonamego and two players are expected to speak.
In 2013, the Detroit Lions created a bowl game to replace the Motor City Bowl, which traditionally pitted a MAC team against one from a Power 5 conference.
This year, the bowl was supposed to feature teams from the ACC and Big Ten, but the Atlantic Coast Conference did not have enough schools to fill the bowl and CMU was chosen as the backup representative.
The Chippewa roster features eight players from Detroit and 80 from Michigan.
Four of CMU’s last six bowl games have been played at Ford Field. Seven of the program’s last nine postseason games, including conference championships have been played at the home of the Detroit Lions.
CMU clinched its fourth consecutive year of bowl eligibility Nov. 18 when it defeated Kent State 27-14. The following week, CMU took care of Eastern Michigan 35-28.
The matchup will be the second consecutive bowl game CMU has played in. The Chippewas have not played in a bowl game during back-to-back seasons since 2008 and 2009.
Follow @CMLifeSports on Twitter for live updates from the press conference and more on today’s announcement.
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