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Rockets to face Florida International in Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
By Paul Helgren : December 5th, 2010
The University of Toledo has accepted an invitation to play the Florida International Golden Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Chair and Executive Director Ken Hoffman formally extended the invitation to the Rockets Sunday afternoon.
The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl will be played at Ford Field in Detroit Sunday, Dec. 26. The game is schedule for at 8:30 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on ESPN.
Tickets will go on sale at the UT Athletic Ticket Office Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 8:30 a.m. Tickets also may be purchased by phone at 419.530.GOLD (4653) or online here beginning Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
“We are excited to have both Toledo and FIU in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl,” Hoffman said. “The Rockets played a very competitive nonconference schedule and went seven and one in the MAC. As has become our tradition, we expect a tremendous offensive show with both Toledo and Florida International averaging more than 33 points per game during the second half of the season.”
Hoffman will speak at the Downtown Coaches Association luncheon in Savage Arena Monday, Dec. 6, at noon.
The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was known as the Motor City Bowl from 1997 to 2008. The Rockets played in the Motor City Bowl in 2001, 2002 and 2004.
“We are very excited to be selected for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit,” said UT Vice President and Athletic Director Mike O’Brien. “Ford Field is one of the finest football facilities in the country, and we know from our past experiences in Detroit that Ken Hoffman and his staff put on a great bowl. It will be a memorable experience for our student-athletes and, because of our close proximity to Detroit, it will also be a great opportunity for our fans and students to see their Rockets in a bowl game.”
Said Toledo second-year Head Coach Tim Beckman, “Playing in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl is a great reward for our players, especially the seniors, who have worked very hard this season and are deserving of a bowl of this stature and reputation. We look forward to our stay in Detroit and playing in Ford Field, which I consider to be among the finest NFL facilities in the country. It’s great for our fans that Ford Field is just an hour’s drive from Toledo. We also look forward to playing a very tough FIU team, with whom many of our players and coaches are very familiar, having played them in 2008 and 2009.”
Toledo (8-4, 7-1 MAC) finished in second place in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. Three of its four losses were to bowl-bound teams: Boise State, Northern Illinois and Arizona.
Toledo will be making its MAC-leading 11th bowl appearance and first since a 2005 appearance in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Toledo has an 8-2 record in bowl games.
As of Sunday, Toledo is one of four MAC schools to accept bowl invitations. The other three are Northern Illinois (UDrove Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho); Miami (GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.); and Ohio (R&L Carriers Bowl in New Orleans).
