As the temperatures by the hold of mother nature begin to drop, leaves falling from the trees turn into snowflakes descending from the sky, heading into the final month of the year, college football fans know what is around the corner.
It is exactly like that feeling of knowing something great is about to come to an end, but you do not want to acknowledge it, so instead you live in the moment by not even giving the end a thought and enjoying the task at hand.
As we enter the final stages of the college football season, that moment is bowl season. That task at hand is 41 total bowl games, a four-team college football playoff, and one national championship to end things with a bang.
Do not tell me bowl games are not fun anymore because there is nothing better than knowing that your team is going bowling, and for the fans that reside in Ypsilanti, Mich., just seven years ago all of this was almost foreign talk.
Before head coach Chris Creighton arrived on campus in 2014, the Eagles hadn’t been to a bowl since 1987.
Now, in 2023, EMU is headed to their third consecutive bowl game, which is the first time they have done so in the program's history, while also leading the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in bowl appearances since 2016 with six berths.
Let’s take a look at what bowl games the Eastern Michigan University football team is projected to be selected for:
68 Ventures Bowl
Sweet home, Alabama.
The 68 Ventures Bowl is a bowl game that matches teams from the Sun Belt Conference and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Since 1999, it’s been played annually in Mobile, Ala., and in 2021, it was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama.
This seems to be the most popular bowl selection projection for the Eagles as EMU has been the MAC team projected for this bowl game in three different predictions.
The Athletic as well as Brett McMurphy from Action Network both have the Eagles projected for this bowl matchup against South Alabama who hosts the game inside their home stadium, as mentioned.
Jerry Palm from CBS Sports also has projected that EMU will be playing in Mobile, Ala., but his prediction for the Eagles’ opponent, instead of South Alabama, is Georgia Southern University.
The 68 Ventures Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 23, at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Quick Lane Bowl
How about a game in the backyard?
The Quick Lane Bowl features a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Conference squaring off against an opponent from the MAC. It was first introduced in 2014 and is backed by the Detroit Lions as it’s played at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
Athlon Sports' bowl game projections have EMU going to the Quick Lane Bowl for a 2023 regular season rematch against the Minnesota Gophers. In week two of this year, the Eagles suffered a loss to Minnesota on the road, 25-6.
It’s almost every year that there is a prediction for the Quick Lane Bowl which includes the Eagles, but most of the time it never happens.
EMU did appear in the Quick Lane Bowl in 2019 though, where they took a loss to the University of Pittsburgh, 34-30.
This year the Quick Lane Bowl is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 26, at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Football in the Carolinas?
The Myrtle Beach Bowl is a bowl game that was introduced in 2020 and is hosted by Coastal Carolina University at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. The bowl is owned by ESPN Events and has conference tie-ins with the MAC, Conference USA, and the Sun Belt Conference.
Fox Sports’ bowl game projections have the Eagles flying to Myrtle Beach for a matchup against Coastal Carolina.
As it was announced on Nov. 30 by Brett McMurphy from Action Network, Coastal Carolina will be playing in the Hawaii Bowl against San Jose State. EMU will have a different opponent than projected by Fox if the Myrtle Beach Bowl is the selected bowl for the Eagles.
The Myrtle Beach Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 16, at 11 a.m. on ESPN.
The Eagles will find out officially which bowl game they will be selected for when the selections are announced on Sunday, Dec. 3.
