Football draws Marshall in inaugural Boca Raton Bowl
December 7, 2014
Football will take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in the first Boca Raton Bowl in a matchup of conference champions and former conference rivals.
The MAC champion Huskies (11-2) and the Conference USA champion Thundering Herd (12-1) will meet 5 p.m. Dec. 23 at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla. FAU Stadium is an open-air venue located on the campus of Florida Atlantic University and has a seating capacity of 29,419.
The Boca Raton Bowl is the lone bowl game outside of the College Football Playoff semifinals that features two conference champions going head to head.
“I think outside of the New Year’s Six this is probably the best matchup in the country,” said head coach Rod Carey on Sunday’s Boca Raton Bowl conference call.
The Huskies won the MAC title for the third time in four seasons with a 51-17 thrashing of the Bowling Green Falcons Friday at Ford Field in Detroit. NIU enters the bowl game on a seven-game winning streak but has lost its last two bowl games.
Carey said he thinks his team can take its play from the title game to the next level and said Marshall will provide a test for the Huskies to see if they can play consistently great.
The Thundering Herd won their first C-USA championship with a 26-23 come-from-behind win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, W.Va. Marshall’s win came one week after it saw its undefeated season and potential Group of Five bid into a New Year’s Six bowl fall by the wayside with a 67-66 overtime loss to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Nov. 28.
NIU and Marshall would have been in the conversation for the Group of Five bid if the Boise State Broncos (11-2) would have lost the Mountain West Championship game Saturday. The Broncos beat the Fresno State Bulldogs, 28-14, and will play the Arizona Wildcats (10-3) in the Fiesta Bowl.
Marshall was a member of the MAC from 1997 to 2005, appearing in six MAC Championship games and compiling a 5-1 record. This will be NIU’s seventh-straight bowl game, a conference record, and 10th bowl as a member of the MAC.
