A Record Nine American Teams Going Bowling
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The American Conference has announced the pairings and destinations for its nine bowl-eligible teams for college football’s 2025 Bowl Season, highlighted by Tulane being selected for the College Football Playoff.
No. 11 seed Tulane will face No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the CFP first round in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, December 20 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern/2:30 p.m. Central on TNT and HBO Max. The Green Wave become the second team from the American to earn a spot in the CFP, joining Cincinnati in 2021.
Nine teams competing in postseason games is a single-season record for the American, which had eight teams play in bowl games in 2015 and 2024.
The American’s opponents in Bowl Season will include two from the ACC, an SEC team and a Big 12 team as well as two from the Sun Belt, one each from Conference USA and the Mountain West and one independent. Here are the bowl games involving American teams in calendar order.
StaffDNA Cure Bowl | Wednesday, December 17 | 5 p.m. ET
Camping World Stadium | Orlando, Florida
South Florida (9-3) vs. Old Dominion (9-3)
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting
13th bowl appearance for South Florida
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | Friday, December 19 | 2:30 p.m. ET
Raymond James Stadium | Tampa, Florida
Memphis (8-4) vs. NC State (7-5)
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting
19th bowl appearance for Memphis
College Football Playoff First Round | Saturday, December 20 | 3:30 p.m. ET
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium | Oxford, Mississippi
No. 11 Tulane (11-2) at No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1)
Television: TNT and HBO Max
Series: Ole Miss leads, 46-28
1st CFP appearance for Tulane
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl | Friday, December 26 | 8 p.m. ET
Gerald J. Ford Stadium | Dallas, Texas
UTSA (6-6) vs. FIU (7-5)
Television: ESPN
Series: Series tied, 2-2
7th bowl appearance for UTSA
Go Bowling Military Bowl | Saturday, December 27 | 11 a.m. ET
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium | Annapolis, Maryland
East Carolina (8-4) vs. Pitt (8-4)
Television: ESPN
Series: Series, 2-2
23rd bowl appearance for East Carolina
Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Saturday, December 27 | 2:15 p.m. ET
Fenway Park | Boston, Massachusetts
Army (6-5) vs. UConn (9-3)
Television: ESPN
Series: UConn leads, 5-4
12th bowl appearance for Army
Isleta New Mexico Bowl | Saturday, December 27 | 5:45 p.m. ET
University Stadium | Albuquerque, New Mexico
North Texas (11-2) vs. San Diego State (9-3)
Television: ESPN
Series: San Diego State leads, 6-1
16th bowl appearance for North Texas
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Friday, January 2, 2026 | 1 p.m. ET
Amon G. Carter Stadium | Fort Worth, Texas
Rice (5-7) vs. Texas State (6-6)
Television: ESPN
Series: Texas State leads, 3-2
15th bowl appearance for Rice
AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Friday, January 2, 2026 | 4:30 p.m. ET
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium | Memphis, Tennessee
Navy (9-2) vs. Cincinnati (7-5)
Television: ESPN
Series: Series tied, 3-3
26th bowl appearance for Navy
Portions Courtesy of the American Conference
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.