Click here to read the 2017 Bahamas Bowl Weekly Release – Week 2 – September 8-9 (PDF)
HURRICANE IRMA: The Bahamas Bowl staff, ESPN Events and conference partners send out our best wishes and prayers to those affected in the Bahamas and the Caribbean by Hurricane Irma, and those still in harms way as it approaches the Southern US.
SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY: Because of the potential impacts from Hurricane Irma in Florida and Georgia, UAB, which is on the road at Ball State Saturday, and the City of Birmingham are hosting FIU’s game vs. Alcorn State Friday night at Legion Field. UAB is also assisting Conference USA partner FIU, as several of the Panthers’ fall sports teams have relocated to Birmingham for the duration of the hurricane threat.
WEEK 2 KEY GAMES: There is one conference game in Week 2, as Rice travels to UTEP in the first Conference USA league game of 2017 on Saturday. Also in C-USA, Louisiana Tech hosts the SEC’s Mississippi State on Saturday. In the MAC, 2016 champion Western Michigan visits the Big Ten’s Michigan State on Saturday and Central Michigan is at Kansas of the Big 12.
BOWL GAMES ARE BETTER IN THE BAHAMAS: In the first three years, the Bahamas Bowl has …
• Become the bowl of future champions. The first two champs – WKU (2014) and Western Michigan (2015) – won their respective league titles the next year. WKU won C-USA in 2015 & 2016, while WMU won the MAC in 2016 with an undefeated regular season and played in a New Year’s Six bowl.
C-USA WEEK 1 NOTES: Playing for the first time in 1,007 days, UAB returned to the fIeld with a 38-7 victory over Alabama A&M in front of the largest crowd (4 45,212) to watch a UAB game at Legion Field … North Texas opened the season with a 59-14 victory over Lamar, as the Mean Green set a school-record with 668 yards of total offense.
MAC WEEK 1 NOTES: Central Michigan RB Devon Spalding scored on a 4-yard run in the third overtime on Thursday as the Chippewas topped Rhode Island, 30-27 … Senior QB Logan Woodside threw for 314 yards and junior placekicker Jameson Vest kicked a career-best four field goals to lead Toledo to a 47-13 victory over Elon.
WEEK 2 SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE USA
Friday, Sept. 8
Alcorn State at FIU (Birmingham)
Saturday, Sept. 9
Charlotte at Kansas State (FSN)
Florida Atlantic at Wisconsin (BTN)
UAB at Ball State (ESPN3)
Middle Tennessee at Syracuse (ACCN)
Old Dominion at Massachusetts
Marshall at NC State (ESPN3)
North Texas at SMU (ESPN3)
Southern at Southern Miss (STAD)
Mississippi St. at LA Tech (CBSSN)
* Rice at UTEP
UTSA at Baylor (FSN)
WKU at Illinois (BTN)
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Friday, Sept. 8
Ohio at Purdue (FS1)
Saturday, Sept. 9
Buffalo at Army (CBSSN)
UAB at Ball State (ESPN3)
Austin Peay at Miami (ESPN3)
Eastern Illinois at Northern Illinois (ESPN3)
Eastern Michigan at Rutgers (BTN)
Howard at Kent State (ESPN3)
Western Michigan at Michigan State (BTN)
Central Michigan at Kansas (FSN)
South Dakota at Bowling Green (ESPN3)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Akron (ESPN3)
Toledo at Nevada (ESPN3)
* – conference games
WEEK 1 RESULTS
CONFERENCE USA
Thursday, Aug. 31
UCF 61, FIU 17
Friday, Sept. 1
Eastern Michigan 24, Charlotte 7
Navy 42, Florida Atlantic 19
Saturday, Sept. 2
UAB 38, Alabama A&M 7
Old Dominion 31, Albany 17
Marshall 31, Miami (Ohio) 26
Louisiana Tech 52, Northwestern State 24
North Texas 59, Lamar 14
WKU 31, Eastern Kentucky 17
Oklahoma 56, UTEP 14
Kentucky 24, Southern Miss 17
Vanderbilt 28, Middle Tennessee 6
Houston at UTSA (postponed)
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Thursday, Aug. 31
Minnesota 17, Buffalo 7
Toledo 47, Elon 13
Central Michigan 30, Rhode Island 27 (3OT)
Friday, Sept. 1
Eastern Michigan 24, Charlotte 7
Boston College 23, Northern Illinois 20
Saturday, Sept. 2
Penn State 52, Akron 0
Illinois 24, Ball State 21
Michigan State 35, Bowling Green 10
Clemson 56, Kent State 3
USC 49, Western Michigan 31
Marshall 31, Miami 26
Ohio 59, Hampton 0
* – conference games
WEEK 1 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
CONFERENCE USA
Offensive Player of the Week
North Texas RB Jeffrey Wilson: The senior had 12 rushes for 176 yards and three touchdowns in a 59-14 victory over Lamar.
Defensive Player of the Week
Louisiana Tech LB Dae’Von Washington: The junior had two interceptions and 26 return yards in a 52-24 victory over Northwestern State.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Marshall KR Keion Davis: The junior brought back a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns and 106 kick return yards in a 31-26 victory over Miami (Ohio).
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East Division Offensive Player of the Week
Ohio QB Nathan Rourke: The sophomore was 6-10 passing for 72 yards, and had six carries for 55 yards and three TDs in a 59-0 victory over Hampton.
East Division Defensive Player of the Week
Buffalo LB Khalil Hodge: The junior had 20 tackles (8 solo and 12 assisted) in a 17-7 loss at Minnesota.
East Division Special Teams Player of the Week
Kent State P Derek Adams: The sophomore punted 11 times for a 46.5 average in a 56-3 loss at Clemson.
West Division Offensive Player of the Week
Eastern Michigan RB Ian Eriksen: The junior rushed seven times for 37 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 victory over Charlotte.
West Division Defensive Player of the Week
Ball State DE Anthony Winbush: The senior had three sacks and seven tackles in a 24-21 loss at Illinois.
West Division Special Teams Player of the Week
Western Michigan KR Darius Phillips: The senior returned four kickoffs for 168 total yards and a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD in a 49-31 loss at USC.
C-USA VS. MAC
The 2017 results of games between Conference USA and the MAC. The series between the conferences is tied 1-1 this season.
Sept. 1
Eastern Michigan (MAC) 24, Charlotte (C-USA) 7
Sept. 2
Marshall (C-USA) 31, Miami (MAC) 26
Sept. 9
UAB (C-USA) at Ball State (MAC)
BAHAMAS BOWL MEDIA PROJECTIONS
Media Organization (Reporter) – Date: Predicted Matchup
10thYearSeniors.com (John Marc Nutt) – Sept. 7: Southern Miss vs. Ohio
USA Today (Erick Smith) – Sept. 6: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois
ESPN.com (Kyle Bonagura) – Sept. 6: Middle Tennessee vs. Miami (Ohio)
ESPN.com (David M. Hale) – Sept. 6: Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo
SI.com (Eric Single) – Sept. 5: WKU vs. Northern Illinois
CBSSports.com (Jerry Palm) – Sept. 5: Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan
Orlando Sentinel (Brant Parsons) – Sept. 4: Southern Miss vs. Miami (Ohio)
CollegeFootballNews.com (Pete Fiutak) – Sept. 4: WKU vs. Toledo
The Sporting News (Bill Bender) – Aug. 26: UTSA vs. Bowling Green
SB Nation (Jason Kirk) – Aug. 26: Florida Atlantic vs. Northern Illinois
Sports on Earth (Matt Brown) – Aug. 21: Southern Miss vs. Miami (Ohio)
Bleacher Report (David Kenyon) – Aug. 23: Louisiana Tech vs. Western Michigan
ESPN.com (Mark Schlabach) – Aug. 29: UTSA vs. Western Michigan
Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan) – July 5: UTSA vs. Ohio
Phil Steele Magazine (Phil Steele) – Magazine: Louisiana Tech vs. Miami (Ohio)
2017 BAHAMAS BOWL PARTICIPANT SELECTION
The highest-ranked conference champion by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee from the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West or Sun Belt will play annually in one of the College Football Playoff bowls (Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, PlayStation Fiesta Bowl or Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for the 2017 season) if it is not selected for the Playoff Semifinals.
Conference USA has secured guaranteed commitments with six bowl partners for the 2017 season, as well as one secondary agreement: Bahamas, Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla, Boca Raton, Gildan New Mexico, R+L Carriers New Orleans and Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowls are primary agreements. The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., is a secondary agreement, should the ACC or SEC not be able to provide a bowl-eligible team. There is no set selection order among C-USA’s bowl partners.
The MAC has 2017 primary bowl tie-ins with Bahamas, Dollar General, Famous Idaho Potato and Raycom Media Camellia Bowls. The MAC has secondary 2017 bowl agreements with Boca Raton, Frisco and Quick Lane Bowls. The Dollar General Bowl has first selection in 2017, and there is no order of selection for the remaining three primary MAC tie-ins.
The 2017 Bahamas Bowl participants – selected from among bowl-eligible teams in Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference – will be announced by the bowl, ESPN Events and conference partners once finalized.
ESPN EVENTS
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of 31 collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 14 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 300-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.
Collegiate Football
AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (St. Petersburg, Fla.); Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Camping World Kickoff (Orlando, Fla.); Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff (Montgomery, Ala.); Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Baton Rouge, La.); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); Texas Bowl (Houston); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta) and Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth)
Collegiate Basketball
AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Armed Forces Classic (Ramstein Air Base, Germany); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy’s (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men’s Classic presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women’s Classic presented by Corona (TBD); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); PK80 (Portland, Ore.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); State Farm Champions Classic (Chicago) and Wooden Legacy (Fullerton, Calif.)