Despite 6-6 record, no bowl for CMU

Cleveland, Ohio - Five MAC football programs will be playing in bowl games this year as invitations were extended late Sunday afternoon.

The five bowl invitations marks the sixth time in MAC history to have five or more teams receive a bowl invitation (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013) in a single-season. The Conference record is seven bowl invitations, which was established last season during the 2012 bowl season.

Bowling Green (Little Caesars Pizza Bowl), Northern Illinois University (San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl), Ball State (GoDaddy Bowl), Buffalo (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl) and Ohio (Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg) will represent the MAC in bowl games this season.

This season the MAC had three programs reach ten wins as MAC Champion Bowling Green (10-3, 7-1), Northern Illinois (12-1, 8-0) and Ball State (10-2, 7-1) all reached the ten win plateau.

2013 MAC Bowl Schedule:

Buffalo vs. San Diego State, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Dec. 21

Ohio vs. East Carolina, Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg, Dec. 23

Bowling Green vs. At-Large Selection To Be Determined, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Dec. 26

Northern Illinois University vs. Utah State, San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, Dec. 26

Ball State vs. Arkansas State, GoDaddy Bowl, Jan. 5

"I am extremely proud of the student-athletes, coaches and fans at our five MAC member institutions that have received bowl invitations and our collective accomplishments as a conference this season," said Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, Commissioner of the Mid-American Conference. "The commitment of the student-athletes to excel has earned them this opportunity. I am very excited for our bowl lineup and I look forward to watching the MAC teams compete this bowl season. I also want to thank our primary and secondary contracted bowl partners. I speak for the entire conference, we appreciate these partnerships."

Two MAC programs were bowl eligible and were not selected for a bowl game. Both Toledo (7-5, 5-3) and Central Michigan (6-6, 5-3) were not selected for a bowl game. In FBS college football, a total of 79 teams were bowl eligible for only 70 bowl invitations, therefore a total of nine programs were eligible and were not selected for a bowl game.

The complete MAC bowl schedule is as follows: All times are Eastern

Dec. 21: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl - Boise, Ida. 5:30 pm ET (ESPN)

Buffalo (8-4, 6-2) vs. San Diego State (7-5, 6-2, Mountain West Conference)

Note: Buffalo finished the season with an 8-4 overall record, including 6-2 in the MAC for second place in the East Division. Fourth-year Head Coach Jeff Quinn will be leading the Bulls to the program's first bowl appearance since the 2008 season. This will be Quinn's first bowl game as leading the Buffalo program. The last bowl appearance for Buffalo came in the 2009 International Bowl.

Dec. 23: Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg - St. Petersburg, Fla. 2:00 pm ET (ESPN)

Ohio (7-5, 4-4) vs. East Carolina (9-3, 6-2, Conference USA)

Note: The Ohio Bobcats finished the 2013 season with a 7-5 overall record, 4-4 in Conference play. Ohio will be making its fifth consecutive bowl appearance (2012 Advocare V100 Independence Bowl; 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; 2010 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl; 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl) under head coach Frank Solich. The Bobcats have received a bowl invitation for the sixth time in the last eight years. Ohio has won two consecutive bowl games (2012 Advocare V100 Independence Bowl and 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl).

Dec. 26: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Detroit, Mich. 6:00 pm ET (ESPN)

Bowling Green (10-3, 7-1) vs. At-Large Selection To Be Determined

Note: Bowling Green won the 2013 Marathon MAC Football Championship over Northern Illinois with a 47-27 win on Dec. 6. It was the Falcons first MAC Championship since the 1992 season. Fifth year head coach Dave Clawson will be leading the Falcons to the programs second consecutive bowl appearance and third bowl invitation in the last five years. Last year, Bowling Green appeared in the Military Bowl and also appeared in the 2009 Roady's Humanitarian Bowl under Clawson. Bowling Green will be making the programs 11th bowl appearance.

Dec. 26: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl - San Diego, Calif. 9:30 pm ET (ESPN)

Northern Illinois University (12-1, 8-0) vs. Utah State (8-5, 7-1, Mountain West Conference)

Note: Northern Illinois won its fourth consecutive MAC West Division title, however suffered a 47-27 loss to Bowling Green in the 2013 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game on Dec. 6. Northern Illinois finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 overall record, 8-0 in Conference play and were ranked as high as No. 14 in the BCS Standings prior to the loss. Northern Illinois will be making its MAC record sixth consecutive bowl appearance (2013 Discover Orange Bowl; 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl; 2010 uDrove Humanitarian Bowl; 2010 International Bowl; 2008 Independence Bowl). Last season, Northern Illinois recorded the first-ever BCS bowl invitation for the MAC with an invite to the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl vs. Florida State.

Jan. 5: GoDaddy Bowl - Mobile, Ala. 9:00 pm ET (ESPN)

Ball State (10-2, 7-1) vs. Arkansas State (7-5, 5-2, Sun Belt Conference)

Note: Ball State finished the regular season with a 10-2 overall record, 7-1 in Conference play. Third-year Head Coach Pete Lembo and the Cardinals will be making its second consecutive bowl appearance and ninth overall bowl appearance in school history. Last year, Ball State appeared in the Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl and also appeared in the 2007 International Bowl and 2008 GMAC Bowl.