BOISE — The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will feature a matchup between the BYU Cougars and the Western Michigan Broncos at Albertsons Stadium on December 21.
The Potato Bowl has tie ins with the Mountain West and Mid-American conferences. Wyoming was the last bowl-eligible team that did not get a bowl invite.
Both Wyoming and BYU ended the season at 6-6, but the bowl bucked the Mountain West Conference's affiliation to invite the Cougars, an FBS Independent.
Wyoming is the only bowl-eligible Mountain West team that did not get bowl invite this season. The Cowboys did play in the Potato Bowl in 2017, beating Central Michigan 37-14.
“We’re excited to host BYU for the first time and welcome back a Western Michigan program that was a great participant a few years ago,” Potato Bowl executive director Kevin McDonald said in a statement. “This is a fantastic matchup for our community with two teams they will really be able to get behind, along with two young quarterbacks and two up-and-coming coaches.”
This will be the first time that BYU is playing in the Potato Bowl, and Western Michigan's second time. The Broncos lost their first game to Air Force 38-24 in 2014.
BYU last played in Albertsons Stadium on Nov. 3, a 21-16 loss to Boise State. The Cougars are 0-5 on the Blue all-time.
The two teams' one common opponent this season was Northern Illinois. BYU lost 7-6 at home, while Western Michigan beat the Huskies 28-21.
According to McDonald, there were long-term plans to get BYU included in the Potato Bowl.
The Famous Idaho Potato is on Friday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. MST and will be aired on ESPN.
