Military Bowl 2018, Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati: Where, when, and team info
The game in Annapolis has both its teams.
Who’s playing in the 2018 Military Bowl?
Virginia Tech (6-6, 4-4 in ACC)
The Hokies did not have a good season. They dealt with tons of attrition on defense, and quarterback Josh Jackson missed almost the whole year due to injury. They lost to Old Dominion in one of the biggest upsets in memory, and they got absolutely steamrolled in a couple different ACC games. But that’s not really important to the Hokies now. What’s important is that they’re bowling for the 26th year in a row, after a comeback against rival Virginia and a hastily scheduled game against Marshall got them eligible just before the buzzer. That’s the longest active streak in the country, now that Florida State’s 36-year run has ended.
Cincinnati (10-2, 6-2 in AAC)
The Bearcats took a great step forward in Luke Fickell’s second year on the job. After back-to-back 4-8 years (the first of which came under Tommy Tuberville), they became one of the best teams in the conference and were a real threat to win it until UCF trounced them in primetime in Week 12. They’re not much on offense, but they have a great defense and managed a Power 5 win against UCLA in Week 1. The Bruins didn’t turn out to be much, but they did later give the Bearcats a transitive win over USC.
Where is the Military Bowl?
Annapolis, Md., on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. That’s obviously the home field for the Navy Midshipmen and the site of the academy’s graduation ceremony every year, which sometimes draws the president.
The Military Bowl — like the Armed Forces Bowl — goes heavy on military and patriotism themes. Defense contracting giant Northrop Grumman sponsors the Military Bowl, while Lockheed Martin sponsors the Armed Forces Bowl. This kind of thing is not by accident:
In 2005, the Fort Worth Bowl’s third year, the game didn’t have a title sponsor. Ahead of 2006’s game, organizers sought something new to brand the game around.
That’s when the game became the Armed Forces Bowl. So the bowl went to Bell Helicopter, a Fort Worth-based aerospace company and defense contractor. (Going to national companies with local roots is a tried-and-true title sponsor approach.)
“And they were like, ‘Hey, we’ll support a football game, but what’s that hook or that niche that’s going to put it over the top?’” says [the current Armed Forces Bowl’s executive director, Brant] Ringler. “Once we changed our name to the Armed Forces Bowl, they said, ‘Wow, this is our customer.’”
When is the Military Bowl, and how can I watch it?
12 p.m. ET on Dec. 31. Watch on ESPN.
