The Sun and Arizona Bowls were impacted by COVID. That gave one of the games an opportunity to create a new matchup on short notice.
Central Michigan saw Boise State bow out of the Arizona Bowl due to the coronavirus. Washington State was in the same situation when Miami had to exit the Sun Bowl due to COVID-19.
So, officials for the game in El Paso put their heads together and were able to get the Chippewas to make the trek to the Sun Bowl, where they will face the Cougars on New Year’s Eve day.
🚨 OFFICIAL: @CMU_Football will now take on @WSUCougarFB in the @TonyTheTigerSB 🚨 pic.twitter.com/tjPTmM5Ird
— Bowl Season (@BowlSeason) December 28, 2021
Per Sunbowl.org:
The Barstool Arizona Bowl is, unfortunately, the fourth bowl game to be affected by COVID-19 in 2021.
CMU arrived in Tucson on Sunday and is ready to play. Being a four-hour drive from El Paso, the Chippewas are set up logistically to make the trip and compete on Friday.
The co-MAC West champion Chippewas will take on the Washington State Cougars after driving from the Arizona desert into the Borderland. This would still make it the second time in as many years that the Central Michigan Chippewas (8-4, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) would make a trip out west in postseason play. The last trip CMU made west of the Mississippi River was when it was in the 2019 New Mexico Bowl versus San Diego State.
Tony the Tiger is the sponsor of the Sun Bowl and he thinks the resolution is Grrrrrrreat!
