Four EMU Bowl Preferences
Four EMU Bowl Preferences
EMU, 6-6, is going to its sixth bowl game over the last seven full seasons. Who could be a fun match with EMU this year?
EMU vs. San Jose State at the Potato Bowl again
San Jose State didn’t look like it’d be a bowling team at first, but it has since rebounded with five-straight wins to be 6-5 right now, which means they’ll be able to go bowling even with a potential (and probable) loss to UNLV this weekend. EMU and SJSU already had a fun bowling history coming into the 2022 game, and I think SJSU, which returned its head coach and quarterback from last year, could use this game as a way to really redeem themselves. Most importantly, these teams have home-and-home dates set for 2026 and 2029, so the back-to-back bowl games are clearly going to add more juice for both fanbases heading into those games. And just like that, you might have a cross-country, G5-level football series that means something to these fanbases.
EMU vs. Western Kentucky at the Bahamas Bowl in Charlotte
Of the teams that unfortunately aren’t in the MAC but I wish were, Western Kentucky has got to be way up there on the list. Maybe this could still happen in the future, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any true traction in that direction. Speaking of things the MAC is missing out on right now, a trip to the Bahamas. The MAC’s best bowl trip is gone this year and will instead be played in Charlotte, which is a totally cool trip in itself this time of year. This year’s WKU team isn’t lighting up scoreboards like some previous iterations, but the angst of “this should be a MAC game!” I think would be something that real MAC heads would get down with.
EMU vs. Northwestern at the Quick Lane Bowl
Kind of writes itself at this point, right?
[An exciting] EMU plays well in Ford Field, and it becomes a home site for the program when locals and alumni already know their way in and around Detroit. Add in Northwestern which has gone through/is going through a reckoning with its hazing scandal under Pat Fitzgerald. The football team isn’t alone at Northwestern, but that’s beside the point here. Ben Bryant, who quarterbacked at EMU for the 2021 season ended up transferring back to Cincinnati and then, now, has spent his final season with Northwestern. Bryant was the MAC’s leader in passing yards in 2021 and has helped lead NW to a bowl stage after the team won four games over the last two seasons.
EMU vs. Boise State in the Arizona Bowl
The Arizona Bowl is a destination that traveling EMU fans would probably enjoy, and they’d be able to talk about how they’re already undefeated when playing in the Grand Canyon State. Last year’s Arizona State win also featured a win on Boise State’s blue turf. This Boise State team already saw its head coach — an alum! — get fired this year, but that team’s brand has a strong enough attraction that I think would add to EMU’s playing portfolio. EMU finished the year playing in its all-gray uniform set at Buffalo, which wore all black. I’d get down for Boise State in all blue vs. EMU in all gray or all green on green turf.
