The Memphis team is heading to a bowling game for the seventh consecutive season.
The Tigers announced Sunday that they will play Florida Atlantic at the first Bowl in Alabama on December 23 and begin at 6 p. m. ESPN at the Cramton Bowl.
The Bowl was created this season after the cancellation of the Fenway Bowl in Boston due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s wonderful for us to be able to set up the University of Memphis and our city in the first Bowl,” Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said in a school statement. “This is a special opportunity to compete at the highest point of a historic and glorious village. “
Fans will be able to attend, but the ability to adjust will be limited due to COVID-19. Tickets will only be sold on the bowl ticket page starting Monday and at Memphis Athletics.
Memphis has a 5-8 record of all time in bowl games, has not won a bowl game since the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl. The Tigers have already faced Florida Atlantic at the 2007 New Orleans Bowl, which FAU won 44-27.
FAU was 5-3 in his first season as coach Willie Taggart and is 4-0 of all time in bowl games. The owls won the Boca Raton Bowl last season.
This is the third time in seasons that the Tigers (7-3) play a pre-Christmas bowling game. The 2016 Boca Raton Bowl and 2018 Birmingham Bowl were played before December 25.
After beating Houston on Saturday, Silverfield and his players said they were ahead to continue their season and that they were not missing a bowl game. Tigers dropped to 55 in 30-27 victory
Silverfield said last month that he was looking to praise his team with a bowl game after passing the season, but now he will have that chance as the Tigers seek their first bowl victory in six years.
“I know our men are very excited about the opportunity to compete and the chance to win a bowl game for the first time in a long time,” Silverfield said in the statement.
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