The Ohio Bobcats are back in Bowl Season for the fourth-straight year.
Ohio will draw UNLV for the 2025 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, which kicks off from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, TX on Tuesday,
Dec. 23. This marks the first-ever Frisco Bowl played at the Ford Center, which is the Dallas Cowboys’ 12,000-seat indoor practice facility. All previous iterations of the bowl, since its founding in 2017, transpired at Toyota Stadium which is currently under construction. The Frisco Bowl will move back to its original outdoor venue once construction is complete.
This is one of two bowls in Frisco, as the inaugural Xbox Bowl between Missouri State and Arkansas State kicks off in the same venue five days prior.
Ohio (8-4, 6-2) is bowling for a fourth-consecutive year, eyeing 9+ wins for a fourth year in a row. The Bobcats won each of their last six bowl games, emerging victorious in the postseason each year from 2017-19 and from 2022-24. the program never won a bowl game until 2011, and in Frisco, the Bobcats can claim their ninth trophy in a 15-year span.
This season, the Bobcats found themselves out of the MAC title game due to a three-way tiebreaker but were still one of the conference’s best teams by season’s end. The team will be without head coach Brian Smith, who is currently on leave due to an investigation by the university, putting defensive coordinator John Hauser under the spotlight as interim head coach.
UNLV (10-3, 6-2 Mountain West), like Ohio, is in the midst of its best stretch in program history. After one winning season from 2001-22, the Rebels have three-straight 9+ win seasons, all accompanied by Mountain West Championship Game appearances. UNLV is fresh off losing to Boise State in the Mountain West title game for the third-consecutive year, falling 38-21 on the blue turf Friday night. Under first-year head coach Dan Mullen, the Rebels receive a shot at a second bowl in the last 25 years, after outlasting California in the 2024 LA Bowl.
This marks the second meeting between the Bobcats and Rebels. UNLV won the sole previous meeting, 26-18, in Las Vegas in 1988. This will be the Frisco Bowl’s third MAC vs. Mountain West matchup. Ohio shut out San Diego State 27-0 in the 2018 iteration, while Kent State outpaced Utah State 51-41 in a 2019 shootout, making the MAC 2-0 in this bowl game all-time. The Bobcats prepare for their second appearance, while UNLV makes its first-ever trip to Frisco.
Kickoff from Frisco is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT at the Ford Center inside The Star, with ESPN providing the broadcast.
