BYU to face AAC Champs Memphis in Miami Beach Bowl

PROVO, Utah  — The BYU Cougars (8-4) will face the American Athletic Conference Champion Memphis Tigers (9-3) in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, today announced Carlos Padilla, II, executive director of the Miami Beach Bowl. The game will kickoff at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 22 and be televised nationally on ESPN.

“We’re thrilled to have two red-hot teams to showcase in our first bowl game,” said Padilla. “Memphis has won six straight games and BYU closed out the year winning its last four games.”

BYU enters the bowl on a four-game victory streak to meet a Memphis team riding a string of six-straight wins as the Tigers have not dropped a game since a four-point home setback against Houston on Oct. 11. The Tigers only other losses were both road losses at nationally ranked UCLA (42-35) and Ole Miss (24-3).

"Our team is excited to be in the postseason for a 10th-straight season and looking forward to the challenge of facing Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl,” said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Memphis had a great regular season, winning a share of the AAC title. They are well coached with a strong defense and a balanced offense. It should be a great matchup in Miami."   

The Miami Beach Bowl will boast the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Tigers.

Memphis and BYU have played three common opponents in 2014 with games against Connecticut, Houston and Middle Tennessee. BYU defeated the Huskies 35-10 in East Hartford in the season opener before earning a 33-25 home win over Houston and a 27-7 road victory against the Blue Raiders. Memphis earned home wins over Middle Tennessee (36-17) and UConn (41-10) and suffered its lone conference loss at home to Houston (28-24).

Memphis shared the 2014 AAC title with Cincinnati and UCF. All three teams had 9-3 overall records and 7-1 league marks. BYU lost at UCF 31-24 in overtime in quarterback Christian Stewart’s first start after Heisman hopeful Taysom Hill went down with a season-ending injury. 

BYU is one of just 12 programs to earn a bowl invitation for a 10th-straight season. Only Florida State with seven bowl wins has topped BYU’s 6-3 bowl record in that timeframe. The Cougars went 8-4 in 2014, recovering from injury setbacks and four midseason defeats to win its final four games.

BYU is coming off a 42-35 win at Cal to improve to 3-0 against Power 5 conference teams this season. BYU also achieved a road win at then No. 25 Texas 41-7 and a 41-33 home victory over Virginia.

Read more about the BYU vs. Memphis matchup at MiamiBeachBowl.com.

Get Tickets

Tickets for the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl are on sale now at BYUtickets.com or by calling 800-322-BYU1. There are a variety of great seat locations available in the BYU sections, with prices starting at just $33.

Fans can go to the BYU ticket website to see the various ticket options as well as the Marlins Park seating chart. Marlins Park, which opened in 2012, is a state-of-the-art facility that serves as the home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins.

COUGAR CLUB members may purchase prime seating in section 7 by logging on to the Cougar Club tickets page.

BYU STUDENTS may purchase two tickets in person at the Marriott Center Office beginning Dec.10. Student tickets are $10 each and are located in section 26 or 36.