C-USA champions will play at home
The Florida Atlantic seniors who thought they had already played their final home game were wrong.
On Sunday, the Owls learned they will play Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium. The game, which has since adopted the sponsor Cheribundi Tart Cherry, will be played Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
“To be chosen for this bowl, to have a chance to play in our home stadium, which our players have started to protect, it’s been very exciting,” FAU coach Lane Kiffin said.
FAU will play its second consecutive game at home after defeating North Texas on Saturday in the Conference USA title game. It was the second conference championship in school history. After losing their three non-conference games to Navy, Wisconsin and Buffalo, the Owls went undefeated in league play.
“Sometimes bowl games are tough to travel to,” Kiffin said. “Some fans don’t get to go. To be right here, it’s awesome. Competitively speaking, it’s a homefield advantage. The only downside is for the players that they don’t get to go somewhere else.”
Akron (7-6) will play in a bowl game for the second time in three years. The Zips, who are coached by former Auburn coach Terry Bowden, won a program-best eight games this season.They won the East Division of the Mid-American Conference.
Kiffin said he was satisfied with the opponent despite it not being one from a Power Five conference.
“I don’t spend time on things that we can’t control,” Kiffin said. “If we don’t have control, there’s no use to talk about it.”
The Owls (10-3) are playing in a bowl for the first time since 2008. That year they defeated Central Michigan 24-21 in the Motor City Bowl.
“Nobody picked us to finish as conference champions,” linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said. “Everything we had against us. Everything says we shouldn’t be here. … Now that we are, it’s a blessing.”
Kiffin needed just one year to complete one of the best turnarounds in college football. The Owls’ sevengame improvement is the second-best in the country behind Fresno State, which is eight games better this season.
Florida International, which matched a school single-season record for victories under new coach Butch Davis, will play Temple in the Gasparilla Bowl in St. Petersburg.
FIU, from Conference USA, finished 8-4 for its first winning season since 2011 and will be making the third bowl appearance in the school’s history.
Temple, from the American, finished 6-6. The Owls became bowl eligible with last week's 43-22 win at Tulsa and will be competing in a bowl game for the third straight year — a school record.