Northwestern Earns Bid to Meineke Car Care Bowl

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Dec 5, 2011 5:40PM

Despite finishing the regular season with a 6-6 record, the Northwestern Wildcats landed a better bowl game than many expected. While many projections had the Cats heading to lesser games like the TicketCity Bowl or Little Caesars Bowl, they will instead head to Houston for the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Texas A&M, who also finished the year 6-6. The Wildcats and Aggies will face off on New Year's Eve at 11 a.m.

With a 3-5 conference record and .500 record overall in 2011, the Wildcats clearly benefited from the recent scandal involving Penn St. to secure a spot in the higher status Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Nittany Lions were passed over by a number of selection committees and will instead play in the TicketCity Bowl despite a 9-2 mark.

Playing Texas A&M in Houston represents the second straight year that the Cats face a Texas school in the Lone Star Sate. Last season, they lost to Texas Tech in the inaugural TicketCity Bowl in Dallas. Northwestern is still looking for their first bowl victory since 1948. They ended their 47-year bowl drought with a trip to the 1995 Rose Bowl, and have played in eight bowls since that time, but have racked up a 0-8 record.