Information on Travel Requirements
TORONTO - The Mid-American Conference and the International Bowl Committee announced that Western Michigan has accepted the first invitation to the Inaugural International Bowl, which will be held Jan. 6, 2007 at the Rogers Centre in the great city of Toronto. The Broncos, playing in their first bowl game since the 1988 California Bowl, will face an opponent from the Big East Conference.
The game will air live on ESPN2 in the United States and TSN in Canada at noon on Jan. 6, 2007. It will mark the first time a bowl game has been played outside of U.S. since the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba.
“We are extremely thrilled to welcome Western Michigan to the 2007 International Bowl,” said Ken Hoffman, the International Bowl's Executive Director. “The Broncos continue to grow under the leadership of Coach Cubit. They have a large alumni following and should bring thousands of fans into the city for bowl week.”
WMU finished the 2006 regular season with an 8-4 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Mid-American Conference. The eight wins are the most since the Brown & Gold posted nine during the 2000 campaign. Western Michigan finished second in the MAC West Division. The Broncos tied for the division championship in 1999 and 2000 but have not finished second since 1997.
The Broncos boast the conference's best total defense and the nation's sixth-ranked rushing defense, holding opponents to just 71.92 yards per game on the ground. WMU has held the opposition to less than 10 net yards rushing on four occasions, including holding Akron to -13 yards on 20 carries in the season finale. Western Michigan also leads the country in interceptions (22).
“We are very excited to be participating in the inaugural International Bowl. Toronto is a great city and it will provide our student-athletes with an excellent life experience. We have no doubt that this bowl, ran by Ken Hoffman, will be one of the top bowls in the country,” commented WMU head coach Bill Cubit.
WMU is led offensively by sixth-year senior Ryan Cubit, who is just 46 yards from eclipsing the 2,000-yard mark for the season and already has a career-high 15 touchdown passes this season. Cubit has thrown at least one scoring strike in nine-straight games this year and a season-best three at Ball State on Oct. 21. The Broncos also boast a potent running attack as Mark Bonds is over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career (1,082). Western Michigan was honored with five All-MAC selections and linebacker Ameer Ismail was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
The MAC will have four teams in a bowl game, which is the second most in conference history. Five conference teams made it to a bowl game in 2004. Since 1999, the MAC has a 10-5 bowl record. It's winning percentage of .667 rates the conference tops among all Division 1-A conferences.
"This is another exciting day for Mid-American Conference football," said MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst. "We are thrilled with the bowl opportunities that have been offered to our institutions and student-athletes and it is reflective of the continuing growth and competitiveness of our football programs."
The WMU Athletic Department will be creating a bowl web site that will provide game information as well as travel information, hotel accommodations and ticket information. This site will be available in the next few days. In the meantime, please visit www.wmich.edu/gobroncos for information.
