The Toledo Rockets (11-2) will play the Appalachian State Mountaineers (8-4) in the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on December 23.
The game, which features the MAC champion and the Sun Belt co-champion will kick off at 7 PM EST on the night. In last year's edition, the Troy Trojans took down the Ohio Bobcats 28-23.
The last time a MAC team won this bowl (formerly the GoDaddy Bowl) was at the end of the 2014 season, when Toledo downed Arkansas State by a bizarre score of 63-44. In the game, former Rockets' running back Kareem Hunt rushed for an all-time bowl record five touchdowns and achieved 271 yards on the ground.
This year, Toledo won its first conference title since 2004 after defeating Akron 45-28 on Saturday afternoon. Plenty of senior talent, including quarterback Logan Woodside and running back Terry Swanson, will play their last game in blue and gold on the day.
Appalachian State struggled in non-conference play, recording three of its four losses to non-Sun Belt teams, but the Mountaineers succeeded in their league. At 7-1 in the Sun Belt, Appalachian State was named co-conference champions along with Troy.
The two programs collided last season in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl across the state in Montgomery, Alabama. Appalachian State finished 10-3, defeating the 9-4 Rockets 31-28 in an evenly matched contest. No team recorded consecutive scores in the entire game, and the Mountaineers' Michael Rubino kicked the game-winning field goal with 5:14 left in the game. Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb, who will start in the Dollar General Bowl, claimed MVP honors.
This will be one of three bowl games (Cotton: USC-Ohio State and Rose: Oklahoma-Georgia) to feature two conference champions. It will also be one of two bowl games to feature a rematch from the 2016 bowl season (Sugar: Clemson-Alabama).