For the fifth time in school history, Temple football is going to a bowl game. Temple Athletics announced on Sunday that the Owls have accepted an invitation to play Toledo in the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m., in Boca Raton, Fla.

“What a tremendous way to end a magical season,” said Temple President Neil D. Theobald. “The Temple community is proud of what Coach Matt Rhule and his team have accomplished—not just on the field, but in the classroom and in the community. I hope Temple fans across the nation, including more than 10,000 alumni who live in Florida, will join us at the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl on the 22nd.”

The bowl invitation capped a record-breaking year for the Owls under Rhule, who in his third season led Temple to 10 wins. That record is tied for most in school history.

Temple has spent six weeks in the Top 25 this season, including a program-record four-week run. The Owls shattered home attendance marks, selling out Lincoln Financial Field twice and averaging more than 44,000 fans per home game. The first of those wins was a 27-10 defeat of Penn State, the Owls’ first over the Nittany Lions in 74 years. On Halloween, the Owls’ sold-out home game against Notre Dame brought ESPN’s College GameDay to Philadelphia, a first for Temple football.

Having the national spotlight shine on the football team has helped fuel momentum elsewhere at the university, including a dramatic increase in applications and record attendance at admissions events.

“This has been the best semester Temple has ever had—the whole university, not just the football team—and a bowl game is a great opportunity to continue to spread the word about Temple to a national audience,” said Temple Student Government President Ryan K. Rinaldi, a senior in Temple's Fox School of Business.

Temple earned the invitation to the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl after the Owls lost to Houston in the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday.

Temple last played in a bowl game in 2011, when the Owls defeated Wyoming 37-15 in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Temple’s first bowl game appearance was a 20-14 loss to Tulane in the first Sugar Bowl in 1935.

The Marmot Boca Raton Bowl will be played at FAU Stadium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University and broadcast live on ESPN. The southernmost city in Palm Beach County, Boca Raton is 43 miles north of downtown Miami in the heart of Florida's Atlantic Ocean coast, one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

For more information—including updates about tickets, travel packages and more—visit Temple Athletics’ Bowl Game Central site.

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