by The University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane will face the Central Michigan Chippewas in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl in Miami, Florida, it was announced today. The game will be played at Marlins Park (34,000) on Monday, December 19, 2016 at 2:30 p.m. (ET)/1:30 p.m. (CT).
Fans are encouraged to follow www.TulsaHurricane.com for all information related to the Miami Beach Bowl, dubbed as the “Battle of the Beach”.
“We’re excited to be representing our University, the city of Tulsa and the American Athletic Conference in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl,” said Montgomery. “We’ll have our hands full with an extremely talented and well-coached Central Michigan football team. Coach (John) Bonamego has done a great job with the Chippewas football program in his two seasons.”
Tulsa (9-3) enters the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl with one of the nation’s top offenses. The Hurricane ranks sixth nationally in total offense with an average of 522.8 yards per game, eighth in rushing offense (261.8 ypg), 11th in scoring (41.4 ppg) and 40th in passing offense (260.8 ypg). Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) comes into the game with a 6-6 overall record, and among those victories are non-conference wins against Oklahoma State and UNLV. The Chippewas average 27.7 points per game, while giving up just 28.2 points and rank 43rdnationally in total defense, holding the opposition to 376.2 yards of total offense.
“Miami is such a tremendous location for a bowl game, so we hope that Tulsa fans will be able to take a mini-vacation prior to Christmas and support this football team,” added Montgomery.
The bowl appearance for Tulsa is the 21st in school history and the 10th time in the last 14 years. It’s the second straight Bowl appearance for the Hurricane as Tulsa played in the 2015 Camping World Independence Bowl in Montgomery’s first season as the Hurricane Coach.
The inaugural Miami Beach Bowl was played on Dec. 22, 2014, as Memphis and BYU played a double-overtime thriller that saw The American’s Memphis Tigers winning 55-48. The 2015 game, between Western Kentucky and USF, was played on Dec. 21.
This year’s game will be televised by ESPN.
