Last year, it was the Bloomin’ Onion. This year, it’s boneless wings.
The Michigan football team will conclude its season in Tempe, Ariz. when it takes on Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium on Dec. 28. The game kicks off at 10:15 p.m. EST.
“We are excited to represent the Big Ten Conference in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl and to face a challenging Big 12 Conference opponent in Kansas State,” said Michigan coach Brady Hoke in a statement. “This is a great opportunity for Team 134, and we relish the chance to play one of college football’s most successful programs.
“Our team is focused on finishing the season right and sending our seniors out with a victory in their last game in a Michigan uniform.”
The Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl matches up the third selections from the Big Ten and Big 12. Since the two conferences started competing in the postseason game in 2006, the Big 12 leads the series, 5-2. It will be the first-ever meeting between Michigan and Kansas State.
The Wolverines haven’t played a bowl game in Arizona since the 1986 Fiesta Bowl, where they defeated Nebraska. It will also be just the seventh time in 42 bowl appearances that Michigan plays in December.
Though the Wolverines concluded their season with a strong showing in a loss against Ohio State two weeks ago, they finished with a 7-5 record, a far cry from their stated goals of a Big Ten championship and a 10-win season.
“I don’t know if you ever wipe the season clean,” said defensive coordinator Greg Mattison on a conference call Sunday evening. “You emphasize why you didn’t win the game you felt you should’ve won and make sure during these extra bowl practices that you emphasize that and don’t allow it to happen again.
“You get a chance to get so many more practices. We’re a very young football team, and it gets our guys another 15 practices to get better and improve on the mistakes that they made.”
The Wildcats also finished with a 7-5 record and lost four conference games, including Oklahoma State and Baylor.
The Wolverines are 1-1 in bowl games under Hoke, having beaten Virginia Tech in the 2012 Sugar Bowl and lost to South Carolina in last year’s Outback Bowl.
Michigan will begin selling bowl tickets Monday morning, with prices ranging from $30-$100.