The 2018 Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl will match Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois (who played in the inaugural game in 2014) and Conference USA’s Alabama-Birmingham (in its second year after the resurrection of its program, which had been disbanded in 2014) on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. at FAU Stadium. Tickets and hospitality packages can be purchased here.
The Huskies (8-5) won the MAC championship game by stunning 10-3 Buffalo 30-29, ending the game by scoring 20 unanswered points.
They had started the season 1-3, with the losses all to Power-5 teams (Iowa, Utah and FSU), before going on a 6-0 midseason tear. It appeared the season was going to derail late, with losses to Miami of Ohio and Western Michigan, and then the 29-10 second-half deficit to the Bulls.
However, that was when quarterback Marcus Childers took over, throwing three UNI touchdown passes in the final 15:17 to right the ship and send the Huskies back to Boca.
Tasked with the majority of the Northern Illinois running load is Tre Harbison, who enters the Boca Raton Bowl a mere 15 yards from a thousand-yard season.
St. Thomas Aquinas High graduate Lance Deveaux is a solid UNI defensive contributor, with 64 tackles, five tackles for loss and two interceptions.
Meanwhile, UAB also had to gather itself after a late-season wobble, losing their final two regular-season games (Texas A&M and Middle Tennessee State) before notching the program-record 10th win in a season by rebounding against MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 27-25 in the Conference USA title game.
The Blazers, coached by Bill Clark, saw their program disbanded in 2014 after a survey recommended the action as a cost-saving move for the school.
Clark never went on to coach anywhere else, and remained the head man when the sport was reignited for the 2017 season.
UAB is led by running back Spencer Brown and his 1,149 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
In October 2013, the Mid-American Conference and ESPN announced the creation of the Boca Raton Bowl. The inaugural postseason college football event kicked off in December 2014, before the Christmas holiday, and was televised live on the ESPN family of networks.
Cheribundi is in its second year as the title sponsor of the Boca Raton Bowl. Cheribundi is a not-from-concentrate tart cherry juice made from a proprietary juicing process developed by scientists at Cornell University to yield peak antioxidant levels. Two hundred NCAA and professional sports teams, plus thousands of elite and amateur athletes, are using Cheribundi for faster muscle recovery, better sleep and increased stamina. Teams that use Cheribundi include the New England Patriots, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Yankees, University of Alabama, University of Texas, Chicago Blackhawks and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.
Regular consumption of tart cherry juice is reported to reduce post-exercise muscle soreness and speed up recovery after exercise. Tart cherries also contain significant levels of melatonin, which is believed to promote deeper, more restful sleep. Cheribundi tart cherry juice products are available nationwide in grocery, natural and specialty retailers, including Publix, Safeway, Kroger, Target, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Walmart, HEB, Meijer, Costco, Rite Aid and Food Lion, and are available online at Amazon.com. For more information, visit cheribundi.com. Or you can discover the benefits for yourself by taking the Cheribundi 7-Day Challenge.
