DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 04: The Northern Illinois team poses for photographs during the awards ceremony for the Mid-American Conference football championship game between the Kent State Golden Flashes and the Northern Illinois Huskies on December 4, 2021 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Northern Illinois defeated Kent State 41-23. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
College football fans in the NBC 5 viewing area will get to watch some of their favorite teams take the field in bowl games this winter, with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish securing a New Year’s Six bowl berth and the MAC champion Northern Illinois Huskies taking the field for the start of the bowl season.
The Fighting Irish, who finished just outside of the top-four in the College Football Playoff rankings, will receive a berth in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 as a consolation prize. They will take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who lost their playoff chance with a loss in the Big XII title game to Baylor on Saturday.
The Irish and the Cowboys will square off at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Jan. 1, with kickoff set for noon Central time.
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As for the Huskies, they will play on the very first day of the bowl season on Friday, Dec. 17 when they take on Coastal Carolina in the Cure Bowl.
The Huskies, who knocked off Kent State to secure the MAC championship just one year after a winless season, will take the field at 5 p.m. Central for the game, which will air on ESPN 2 and will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
The Wisconsin Badgers are headed to the Las Vegas Bowl, where they will face the Arizona State Sun Devils at Allegiant Stadium. That game is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 30.
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The Purdue Boilermakers will also be bowling after their 8-4 season, and they’ll take on Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Dec. 30.
The Ball State Cardinals will play in a bowl game for the second straight season, as they'll tangle with Georgia State in the Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day. The game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. Central time, and will be televised on ESPN live from Montgomery, Alabama.
In all, there will be 42 bowl games this season, including the Cotton Bowl, which will feature Alabama and Cincinnati, and the Orange Bowl, which will feature Michigan and Georgia. Those games will be played on New Year's Eve, with the winners heading to the national championship game in Indianapolis on Jan. 10.
