BYU Football Will Face UAB In The Independence Bowl
Dec 5, 2021, 12:28 PM | Updated: 1:23 pm
PROVO, UT - NOVEMBER 6: Jaren Hall #3 of the BYU Cougars throws a pass against the Idaho State Bengals during their game November 6, 2021 at the LaVel Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – BYU football will play in the Independence Bowl against the UAB Blazers in Shreveport, Louisiana.
With a 10-2 record, the Cougars ended up with the postseason they were contracted to all along.
WE'RE BOWLING❕❕ pic.twitter.com/tZiBD8pkAv
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 5, 2021
This Independence Bowl bid is BYU’s 39th bowl appearance, where they hold a record in the postseason at 16-21-1. BYU is 3-1 in bowl games under sixth-year head coach Kalani Sitake.
As an FBS Independent, BYU had a contracted postseason tie-in to the 2021 Independence Bowl to face a Conference-USA team. So, after the College Football Playoff Committee ranked BYU below the threshold for a New Year’s Six, BYU’s postseason fate fell in line with so many Independent seasons before it, according to plan.
The Independence Bowl is the NCAA’s 11th-oldest bowl game, established in 1976, the United States Bicentennial year.
BYU has never played in the Independence Bowl. Additionally, this will be only the third time in program history that BYU has played a game in the state of Louisiana (2009 Tulane, 2017 LSU).
UAB finished the 2021 season with an 8-4 record. BYU and UAB have never faced off against one another on the gridiron. The Blazers have qualified for the postseason in each of their five seasons since shuttering their program for two years.
UAB finished second behind UTSA in the Conference-USA West Division standings. UTSA won the Conference-USA title. Conference-USA allows its league champion to pick which bowl they want to play in among the games with C-USA tie-ins.
2021 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
BYU vs. UAB
Date: December 18, 2021
Kickoff Time: 1:30 p.m. (MT)
TV: ABC
Location: Shreveport, Louisiana
Stadium: Independence Stadium (Capacity: 48,975)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
