Five CUSA teams receive bowl bids

League champ Southern Miss chooses Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

The Conference USA champion normally spends the holidays in Memphis and gets to tangle with a middle of the pack team from the SEC.

However, this season is a little different. Why? Contractual obligations require the SEC to play a Big East team in either the Liberty Bowl or BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham. The SEC has nine bowl eligible teams, thus Vanderbilt must face Cincinnati rather than Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles (11-2) had the opportunity to play No. 24 Penn State (9-3) in the Ticket City Bowl, but instead opted to head to Hawaii where they will square off with Nevada (7-5) of the WAC at 8 p.m. (EST) on Christmas Eve.

Houston (12-1), which lost to USM in the league's title game, will head to Dallas to tangle with the Nittany Lions in the Ticket City Bowl at noon on January 2. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

The first CUSA team to compete in its bowl game will be Marshall. The Thundering Herd (6-6), which is making its first bowl appearance under second-year coach Doc Holliday, will be traveling to St. Petersburg where they will face Florida International (8-4) on December 20 in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl. The game will kickoff at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Bill Blankenship's first Tulsa team will battle BYU in the Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas on December 30. The Golden Hurricane (8-4) and Cougars (9-3) will kick at noon on ESPN.

SMU (7-5), which secured its third straight bowl berth, will square off with former Tulsa coach Todd Graham and his Pitt Panthers (6-6) in the BBVA Compass Bowl on January 7th in Birmingham. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff on ESPN.