Colorado State football is bowl eligible for a fifth consecutive season, a feat that has only been accomplished one other time in program history. This season the Rams will be heading to Albuquerque, New Mexico to square off with Marshall in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 16. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised for a national audience on ESPN.
Athletic Director Joe Parker and head coach Mike Bobo each confirmed that Colorado State accepted an invitation to the postseason game Sunday. Parker explained that the program knew what the bowl possibilities could be and that they are excited for the opportunity to compete in a destination where the fans have an opportunity to attend.
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“It’s a great opportunity for us to compete early in the bowl season,” Parker said. “When you think about all the stakeholder groups, we’re really thrilled about the destination because of our player’s families.”
“I’m real excited,” Bobo added. “I’m excited we qualified for another bowl, our fifth straight.”
The Rams recently capped off the 2017 regular season with a 42-14 victory over San Jose State. The win over the Spartans snapped a three-game losing streak for CSU, who came into the game having lost to Air Force (Oct. 28), Wyoming (Nov. 4) and Boise State (Nov. 11).
Marshall comes into the game with a two-game losing streak of their own. The Herd lost games against the University of Texas-San Antonio and Southern Mississippi to conclude the regular season.
“They’re a talented football team,” Bobo said. “It’s going to be a grind of recruiting, bowl practices and finals. We want to finish strong academically, finish strong on the football side and then we want to finish strong with recruiting for the first signing period. It’s going to be a hectic two weeks.”
In recent years, CSU has faced Idaho in the Potato Bowl (2016), Nevada in the Arizona Bowl (2015), Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl (2014) and Washington State (2013) in the New Mexico Bowl. The Rams hold a record of 1-3 in those games with the lone victory coming over Washington State (48-45).
In total, six different teams from the Mountain West qualified and were placed in bowl game this season. Parker spoke of the importance of this accomplishment Sunday.
“I’m proud of our conference,” Parker said. “We have six teams that were bowl eligible with six wins or more and each one of our teams has found a spot, which can’t be said for some of the other group of five schools. That is a big plus for the Mountain West Conference.”
Mountain West Bowl Selections:
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Boise State vs. Oregon (Las Vegas Bowl). Saturday, Dec. 16.
Colorado State vs. Marshall (New Mexico Bowl). Saturday, Dec. 16.
Wyoming vs. Central Michigan (Potato Bowl). Friday, Dec. 22.
San Diego State vs. Army (Armed Forces Bowl). Saturday, Dec. 23
Fresno State vs. Houston (Hawai’i Bowl). Sunday, Dec. 24.
Utah State vs. New Mexico State (Arizona Bowl). Friday, Dec. 29.
Collegian sports director Justin Michael can be reached at jmichael@collegian.com or Twitter @JustinTMichael.
