Four Mid-American Conference teams will play in bowl games this holiday season, but two eligible schools were left out of college football's postseason when bowl announcements were made official Sunday.
Temple, the preseason MAC favorite, finished 8-4 but couldn't secure a second consecutive bowl berth. Connecticut, the Big East champions, finished with the same record as Temple and lost to the Owls 30-16, but will play in the Fiesta Bowl.
Western Michigan (6-6) was also left out of the mix after ending the season on a three-game winning streak to become bowl eligibile.
MAC West champion Northern Illinois will be the first MAC team to play a bowl game as it heads to the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 18 to face Fresno State at 5:30 p.m. A few hours later, Ohio will play Troy in the New Orleans Bowl.
Toledo will play Florida International in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Dec. 26 in Detroit. Miami, the MAC champions, will play Middle Tennessee State on Jan. 6 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala., to round out the conference's games.
Four teams is the fewest the MAC has sent to bowl games since 2007, when Ball State was one of three teams selected to the postseason.
Three of Ball State's opponents this season accepted a bowl bid. In addition to Toledo and Northern Illinois, Iowa will play in the Insight.com Bowl against Missouri on Dec. 28 in St. Louis.
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