It’s going to be a Rust Belt showdown in Detroit on Boxing Day as the Pittsburgh Panthers and Toledo Rockets square off in the GameAbove Sports Bowl at 2 p.m. from Ford Field.
The GameAbove Sports Bowl was previously known as the QuickLane Bowl prior to this season, and it replaced the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl in 2014. It typically pits teams from the Big Ten and MAC against each other, but with no Big Ten team to fill the slot, the Panthers from the ACC will slide in, instead.
Both teams are 7-5 and enter this game disappointed, to varying degrees. Pittsburgh improved from its 3-9 finish a year ago but dropped five in a row to finish 7-5 after its first 7-0 start since 1982. Toledo, which is routinely the most talented team in the MAC, finished tied for sixth in the league in coach Jason Candle’s ninth season after winning 20 games over the previous two seasons.
Pittsburgh is looking for its sixth eight-win season under coach Pat Narduzzi as well as back-to-back bowl wins after earning a victory in 2022. Toledo is also searching for its first bowl win since 2022 and the third under Candle after losing to Wyoming in last season’s Arizona Bowl.
The MAC is searching for its first win against a power conference opponent in the history of the bowl game as Pitt and Toledo get set to face off in the Motor City.
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