97.1 The Ticket -- After a 9-3 regular season, Michigan will head to Orlando to face Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day.
Brett McMurphy of Stadium officially broke the news that Harbaugh will face off with Saban in Orlando. The Crimson Tide (10-2) were in the mix for a spot in the
College Football Playoff down to the final week of the regular season, but after losing to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, fell out of the New Year's Six for the first time in the playoff era.
Alabama-Michigan will play in Citrus Bowl, sources told @Stadium. Hopefully bowl contract requires both head coaches to ride tea cups together at Disney World
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy)
December 8, 2019 This will be the fifth meeting all-time between Michigan and Alabama, with each team having won a pair of games. The last time the two programs met was in the 2012 season opener at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when the Tide won 41-14. Michigan beat Alabama in 2000 Orange Bowl, a 35-34 overtime thriller that saw Alabama miss the PAT to end the game.
Alabama won the 1997 Outback Bowl, while Michigan won the first-ever meeting between the two programs in the 1988 Hall of Fame Bowl.
Michigan State, meanwhile, will head to New York City for the Pinstripe Bowl, according to McMurphy. The Spartans (6-6) will face Wake Forest at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Dec. 27, the first ever meeting between the two programs. It's MSU's first trip to the Pinstripe Bowl, which debuted in 2010 and has tie-ins with the Big Ten and ACC. The Big Ten is 4-1 in five appearances.
-- @WakeFB vs. @MSU_Football--️ @yankeestadium-- December 27th⏰ 3:20 PM--️ https://t.co/pTaMkLk4GI pic.twitter.com/WiU3H0mR4r
— NewEraPinstripeBowl (@PinstripeBowl)
December 8, 2019 MSU is off to its 12th bowl in 13 seasons under Mark Dantonio. The Spartans have posted a 5-6 record in those games.
For the first time ever, all five Michigan schools notched six wins to become bowl eligible, but many had speculated Eastern Michigan will be left out, as there are 79 bowl eligible teams and only 78 spots available.
But it turns out, the Eagles will be staying close to home this bowl season. Eastern Michigan will play Pitt in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on Dec. 26. The Eagles are bowling for the third time in four years, having narrowly lost in last year's Camellia Bowl and the 2016 Bahamas Bowl.
The Panthers, led by former Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, started the season 7-3 and had their sights set on a trip to the ACC Championship Game, but lost their final two games of the season.
THE WAIT IS OVER. We are so excited to bring @EMUFB and @Pitt_FB to Detroit for the 2019 Quick Lane Bowl! pic.twitter.com/DbJJeP4XGM
— Quick Lane Bowl (@quicklanebowl)
December 8, 2019 Central Michigan, fresh off a trip to the MAC title game under first-year head coach Jim McElwain, will head to the New Mexico Bowl to take on San Diego State on Dec. 21. Though the Chippewas fell to Miami (OH) at Ford Field on Saturday, they put together quite the turnaround season, going from 1-11 to 8-4.
Western Michigan rounds out the full slate of in-state teams going bowling. While they narrowly missed on a trip to the MAC Championship, the Broncos finished the regular season at 7-5 and will play in the First Responder Bowl against Western Kentucky on Dec. 30 in the Dallas area.
