Source: Marshall football likely to face UConn in St. Petersburg Bowl

Marshall University Football 2015 Intro Video

When bowl pairings become set in stone today, Marshall will play in the St. Petersburg Bowl, as widely expected.

But the Thundering Herd will not face a team from the upper tier of the American Athletic Conference, as widely projected. The opposition likely will come from that leagues gooey middle.

Marshall, meet the Connecticut Huskies.

Several sources and reports have the Thundering Herd (9-3) revisiting Tropicana Field to take on the 6-6 Huskies. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. on Dec. 26.

An MU source responded, Have not been officially told that. Conference USA and several other leagues were to announce their teams bowl pairings this afternoon.

But bowl news about the AAC schools has been leaking out for several days, well before Houston (12-1) won the league title Saturday and became a shoo-in for the Group of 5s access bowl spot.

Several other teams with better overall records than UConn are going elsewhere. South Florida (8-4) is heading to the Miami Beach Bowl to take on C-USA champion Western Kentucky. Navy (9-2) accepted a bid to the Military Bowl earlier in the week, and Cincinnati (7-5) is going to the Hawaii Bowl. The Bearcats tied the Huskies for third place in the AAC East at 4-4.

Memphis (9-3) appears headed to the Birmingham Bowl to play Auburn, which is just 6-6. Temple (10-3) may be playing in the Boca Raton Bowl against Mid-American Conference runner-up Toledo.

So that sends UConn to Tropicana Field, where the Herd defeated Florida International 20-10 in the 2011 bowl game. On first reaction, some Herd fans are unsatisfied both with the opponent and with the game being the morning after Christmas. The 2011 St. Pete game was played on Dec. 20.

But the Huskies have had their highlights, most notably being the only team to beat Houston. At East Hartford, UConn held the then-13th-ranked Cougars to 318 total yards and Noel Thomas caught two touchdown passes. One was a 45-yarder on a trick play that put the Huskies up 20-10 in the fourth quarter.

Coached by second-year coach Bob Diaco, UConn will play in its first bowl since losing the 2011 Fiesta Bowl (2010 season) to Oklahoma 48-20. The Huskies captured the Big Easts place in the Bowl Championship Series, but went 15-33 in their next four seasons.

The Huskies, who transitioned to Division I-A/FBS in 2000, have been in five bowl games, and are 3-2.

Source: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports/20151205/source-marshall-football-likely-to-face-uconn-in-st-petersburg-bowl