The 2020 LendingTree Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played on January 6, 2020, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. local CST) on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. It was the 21st edition of the

LendingTree Bowl The 68 Ventures Bowl is a postseason National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-sanctioned Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In ...

, and was the last of the 2019–20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS football season, with only the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and all-star games to follow. The game's title sponsor was online lending marketplace

LendingTree LendingTree, Inc. is an online lending marketplace, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The business platform allows potential borrowers to connect with multiple lender, loan operators to find optimal terms for loans, ...

Teams

The game matched the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) champions

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference ...

and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns from 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 ...

. This was the third meeting between the two programs; the RedHawks had won both of the prior meetings.

Miami RedHawks

Miami entered the game with an 8–5 record (6–2 in conference). They finished atop the MAC's East Division, then won the

MAC Championship Game The MAC Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). History The game has been played since 1997, when the conference was first divided into div ...

over

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 ...

, 26–21. The RedHawks lost to both ranked opponents they faced,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. After starting their season 2–4, Miami had a five-game winning streak before losing to Ball State in their regular season finale. This was Miami's third LendingTree Bowl. The RedHawks had won both of their previous appearances; the 2003 GMAC Bowl (over

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

) and the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl (over

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

), when the bowl operated under different names.

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

Louisiana entered the game with a 10–3 record (7–1 in conference). The finished atop the West Division of the Sun Belt, then lost the Sun Belt Championship Game to Appalachian State, 45–38. Along with a regular season loss to Appalachian State, the only other team to defeat the Ragin' Cajuns was

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. This was the first LendingTree Bowl appearance for Louisiana. This was Louisiana's seventh bowl game in program history; in their prior six bowls, they had an official record of 2–2, as two other bowl wins were later vacated. The Cajuns won four consecutive New Orleans Bowls under head coach Mark Hudspeth. In the 2011 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns beat

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, 32–30, on a game-winning field goal. In the 2012 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns defeated East Carolina, 43–34. In the 2013 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns defeated the hometown Tulane Green Wave, 24–21. In the 2014 edition, the 8–4 Cajuns defeated

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, 16–3. Subsequently, the Cajuns had to the vacate their 2011 and 2013 wins, due to NCAA violations. The team returned to play in the 2016 New Orleans Bowl, with the 6–6 Cajuns losing to Southern Miss, 21–28, one of the closest games in rivalry history. In 2018, the Cajuns hired a new head coach, Billy Napier, who led the 7–6 Cajuns to the Sun Belt West Divisional Championship and the 2018 Cure Bowl, losing to Tulane, 24–41.

Game summary

This was the first bowl win for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns program outside the state of Louisiana since 1944, when the team was known as Southwestern Louisiana and they won the Oil Bowl in Houston. In additional to Louisiana quarterback Levi Lewis being named the game's overall MVP, wide receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley, defensive back Eric Garror, and placekicker Stevie Artigue were recognized as offensive, defensive, and special teams MVPs, respectively.

Statistics

Notes

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2020 LendingTree Bowl (01)

68 Ventures Bowl Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football bowl games Miami RedHawks football bowl games