The NIU football team will face Coastal Carolina in the Cure Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 17, according to a report from Brett McMurphy of the Action Network.
The MAC confirmed the report later with a tweet.
The game will kick off at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
GOIN’ BOWLIN’ 🐾
The MAC CHAMPS will take on Coastal Carolina in the @CureBowl on Friday, December 17th (6 PM ET, ESPN2) #theHardWay | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/MsvU7g7mvd
— #MACtion (@MACSports) December 5, 2021
The Huskies are fresh off winning the MAC Championship on Saturday, defeating Kent State 41-23 in Detroit. They enter the bowl game with a 9-4 record.
They only lost two games by more than one touchdown this year – a 63-10 loss at Michigan, which is in the College Football Playoff, and 42-21 to Western Michigan in the regular-season finale without starting quarterback Rocky Lombardi.
WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!! @rocky_lombardi https://t.co/SAoqwGNfz1
— Clint Ratkovich (@TheRatdog25) December 5, 2021
Their only two wins by more than one touchdown were Saturday for the title and an early-season 41-14 game against FCS Maine.
NIU is 4-9 all-time in bowl games and has lost its last six appearances. Their last Bowl win was against Arkansas State, 38-20, in the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl.
This will be the seventh annual Cure Bowl, and NIU will be the first MAC team to be playing in it. It’s the second straight Cure Bowl appearance for Coastal Carolina, which lost 37-34 to Liberty last year.
The Chanticleers finished 10-2 this year out of the Sun Belt, losing to both Appalachian State and Georgia State. They played one Power 5 team, beating Kansas at home, 49-22.
The teams also both played at Buffalo. The Chanticleers won 28-25 in September, while the Huskies won 33-27 in overtime last month.
It’s the first meeting between the two teams. Coastal Carolina became an FBS program in 2017, claiming its first Sun Belt title and bowl appearance last year.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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