The 2012 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

in the

2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 30, 2012, and ended on D ...

. They were led by third-year head coach

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football coach who is the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl ...

and played their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium. They were a member of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in Sun Belt play to finish in fifth place. They were invited to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, their first bowl appearance since joining FBS in 2007, where they were defeated by

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

.WKU Football Media Guide retrieved 31 March 2020.
/ref> After a three-year record of 16–20, head coach Willie Taggart resigned in December to become the head coach at

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. Defensive coordinator Lance Guidry coached the Hilltoppers in Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas. He served as the head football coach at Missouri State from 2020 to 2022. P ...

was hired as the school's new head coach on December 10, 2012.

Schedule

Game summaries

Austin Peay

@ Alabama

@ Kentucky

The win over the Wildcats of the SEC marks the Hilltoppers first ever win over a team from a

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...

conference..

Southern Miss

@ Arkansas State

@ Troy

Louisiana–Monroe

@ FIU

Middle Tennessee

Florida Atlantic

@ Louisiana–Lafayette

North Texas

Central Michigan–Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

This will be the Hilltoppers first bowl game since becoming a member of the FBS in 2007.

References

WKU Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football seasons

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level and represents the university as a member of Confe ...

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