2015 Poinsettia Bowl, Boise State vs. Northern Illinois: Date, time, location and more

The 11th edition of the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl will again feature the Mountain West runner-up in a game at Qualcomm Stadium.

Mountain West teams have been featured in every Poinsettia Bowl and have dominated the history books of the game, posting a 7-3 record. The most appearances all-time belong to the Navy Midshipmen, though, including a trip to the game in 2014 in which they came away victorious.

The Poinsettia Bowl originally began in 1952 as a championship game between military universities, but existed for only four years in that form. Fort Ord, a former U.S. Army post in California, won two of the four Poinsettia Bowls before it became defunct after 1955.

Here is everything you need to know to get ready for this year’s Poinsettia Bowl:

Date and time: Wednesday, Dec. 23, 4:30 p.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Location: San Diego, Calif.

Stadium: Qualcomm Stadium, 71,294

Last year’s score: Navy 17, San Diego State 16

Last year’s attendance: 33,077

Last year’s TV rating: 1.6

Last year’s payout for each school: $612,500

Team with the most all-time appearances: Navy, 4

Team with the most all-time wins: TCU, 3

Boise State appeared to have the Mountain West title in their sights on Nov. 14, but back-to-back upset losses to New Mexico and Air Force pushed them to a second-place finish in the MW Mountain Division. The Broncos’ 8-4 record gives them only their second season with fewer than nine regular season wins since 2002.

Despite that disappointment, BSU completed their 18th straight winning season behind the one-two punch of true freshman quarterback Brett Rypien and sophomore tailback Jeremy McNichols. Rypien threw for nearly 3,000 yards in the regular season while adding 17 touchdown passes in only nine games as the team’s starter. McNichols was even more dangerous; he found the end zone 23 times while racking up over 1,600 total yards in 11 games.

Those two helped the Broncos overcome the loss of Ryan Finley, who started the season behind center but missed the final nine weeks of the season due to a broken ankle. With a wealth of young, dynamic talent on the roster, Boise’s 2015 postseason performance could be the building block to a return to their blue-turfed glory days.

Last bowl game: 2014 season’s Fiesta Bowl (38-30 win over Arizona)

All-time bowl record: 10-5

Head coach’s bowl record: Bryan Harsin is 1-0 in bowl games.

Northern Illinois has been to the MAC Championship Game six straight years, with the last three matchups coming against Bowling Green. The Huskies won two years ago and lost last year, then lost the rubber match this year in a 34-14 blowout.

They were the underdog after a strange season that saw a near win against Ohio State, plus wins over Toledo and Western Michigan, but losses to Central Michigan and Ohio. The Huskies were inconsistent all season on both sides of the ball. At time, the defense looked like it was playing far above its talent level — against both Ohio State and Toledo — but other times, like against Bowling Green, it folded. The offense was just as fickle.

The good news for the Huskies is that the offense has proven it can put up big numbers at times, while the defense specializes in takeaways. Shawun Lurry leads the country with nine interceptions, and he was key to keeping NIU ahead in big games down the stretch. If this team puts everything together, it can hang with anyone.

Last bowl game: 2014 Boca Raton Bowl (52-23 loss to Marshall)

All-time bowl record: 5-8

Head coach’s bowl record: Rod Carey is 0-3 in bowl games. That includes the 2013 Orange Bowl, for which he was the interim coach.