‘Bowling season’ for regional college football programs
Tigers get Frisco Bowl bid as Razorbacks, Red Wolves await invites
By the Times News Staff
theeveningtimes.com
There are still a few things left to be sorted out for the 2024 NCAA college football season, as top-tier teams will be jockeying for a berth in the first-ever 12-team National Championship playoff this weekend.
But bowl game season is upon us, and all three Division I in the Mid-South will be playing in the postseason this holiday season.
At the top of that list, the 25th-ranked University of Memphis football team will square off with West Virginia in the 2024 Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl on Tuesday, Dec.
17 in Frisco, Texas, at Toyota Stadium. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPN.
The Tigers' selection to the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl marks the 11th-straight season that Memphis has earned a bowl bid – the seventhlongest streak in the country and longest among all non-Power 4 programs.
The game will mark the firstever meeting between the Tigers (10-2, 6-2 AAC) and Mountaineers (6-6, 5-4 Big 12) as Memphis will match up with a Big 12 opponent in its bowl game for the secondstraight season after defeating Iowa State in last year's Auto-Zone Liberty Bowl.
West Virginia will be making its fourth bowl appearance in five years after posting a 6-6 overall record during the season with a 5-4 mark in Big 12 play. Among the Mountaineers' wins in 2024 were Kansas (32-28), Cincinnati (31-24) and Arizona (31-26) while finding themselves on the losing side of a 12-point game to No. 16 Iowa State (28-16) on Oct. 12.
The Mountaineers bring a top 30 rushing offense in the country into the matchup and are one of the least-penalized teams in the nation. Historically, West Virginia has a .293 winning percentage against ranked opponents.
Tickets for the 2024 Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl are on sale now through the Memphis Ticket Office online at this LINK or via phone at (901) 678-2331.
Where will the Hogs land?
With so many SEC teams bowl-game eligible (13 out of 16 teams, including potentially four making the 12-team playoff bracket), Arkansas will have to wait and see until their bowl game destination takes them. The Hogs are 6-6 and will likely be seing a lowe-tiered bowl this season.
The Hogs' wrapped up the regular season with a 28-21 loss to Missouri, but there's still one game remaining before they put a bow on the 2024 campaign. The opponent and venue are still to be determined with Selection Sunday on the horizon.
The Hogs secured bowl eligibility with a 35-14 victory over Louisiana Tech in Week 13 of the college football season. Arkansas finished the season with the minimum requirement to secure a spot in the postseason (6 wins).
The biggest boost to Arkansas' postseason hopes was a win over Tennessee in October. The 19-14 victory forced bowl prognosticators to universally plug the Hogs in their latest projections, but they also earned key road SEC victories over Auburn and Mississippi State.
The latest predictions from national media members believe there are three favorites when it comes to bowl destinations for the Hogs: the Birmingham Bowl on Dec.
27ith potentially againstNorth Carolina; the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31 against Pittsburgh; or possibly the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 20 in Tampa, against Tulane.
How ‘bout those Red Wolves?
Arkansas State football had an up-and-down season, but ultimately ended on a high note, with a respectable 7-5 record, earning a bwol bid this December.
As for where, the Red Wolved could end up in the new 68 Ventures Bowl against. Buffalo or the Boca Raton Bowl versus South Florida.
There’s also an outside chance A-State could find itself matched up with the Razorbacks in the Fisco Bowl in a very intriguing clash ahead of the long-awaited first-ever game between the two schools scheduled for next season.
