Temple going bowling vs. FIU

Temple is going bowling for the third year in a row and the seventh time in program history.

The Owls (6-6 overall, 4-4 American Athletic) accepted an invitation to take on Florida International (8-4, 5-3 Conference USA) in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl Thursday, Dec. 21 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Kickoff is 8 p.m.

“We are very excited to participate in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl and we are certainly looking forward to spending time in St. Petersburg to see all it has to offer,” Temple coach Geoff Collins said. “FIU is a strong team and will represent Conference USA well. Butch Davis will have them ready to play so we have to go down there, enjoy ourselves at the great events that the bowl committee puts on, but take care of business come game time.”

This is a quasi-homecoming for Collins. He was the defensive coah at Central Florida in 2009, served as the defensive coordinator at FIU in 2010 and was the defensive coordinator at Florida last season before becoming the head coach at Temple.

Temple won three of its last four games including a 4322 triumph over Tulsa on the road, to become bowl eligible. They played in the Military Bowl last season and the Boca Raton Bowl in 2015. The Owls are 32-20 over the last four seasons.

“I’m really proud of our guys for the season they put together,” Collins continued. “For this senior class to be the winningest class in Temple history is quite an accomplishment.”