This hasn’t been the best of bowl games since it turned into the Quick Lane Bowl six years ago – the last two have been ugly – but it’s a shot for the MAC to make a big statement against a Power Five program, and for the ACC, it’s a bowl that has to be a win to throw on to the pile.
Eastern Michigan was able to stun Illinois earlier this year and will bring the energy and effort. Pitt had a strange habit of playing just about every game close, including a 20-10 win over Ohio from the MAC.
– This is just the fifth bowl game ever for Eastern Michigan and it has only won one of them – it’s going to care. It’s only the third bowl appearance since winning the 1987 California Bowl over San Jose State, and it’s the program’s first ever bowl against a Power Five-caliber school.
Pitt has won just one bowl game since dropping Kentucky in the 2010 BBVA Compass going 1-6 since then. The last win was in Detroit in 2013 in what used to be the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, beating Bowling Green. The program needs a bowl win under Pat Narduzzi after going 0-3.
– This matchup could’ve been a whole lot stronger. Had an SEC team made it into the Cotton Bowl instead of Penn State, the Big Ten bowl pecking order would’ve been different and Michigan State or Illinois would’ve been here playing the Panthers. Eastern Michigan, though, again, will come up with a strong effort and could absolutely win this if Pitt takes the MAC team lightly.