The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE matchup is set for the 2018 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl and both programme’s had an opportunity to conduct a site visit ahead of the game as they begin to galvanise support for the holiday season contest.

FIU Panthers will represent Conference USA and Toledo Rockets will represent the Mid-American Conference as both institutions accepted bids to the game, set for Friday, December 21 in Nassau’s Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl will be played at 12:30pm and the contest will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl Radio Network.

Representatives from both teams attended a press conference to officially launch this year’s event.

Charles Albury, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, said another opportunity to host the game continues the mandate of developing the sports tourism industry.

“The Ministry takes great pride that as a destination we are on track in accomplishing our goal in making islands of the Bahamas a sports mecca. Our goal in diversifying our portfolio is a very strategic one. The staging of high quality international sports events significantly impacts our economy,” he said.

“It is our intent that these programmes have such a memorable experience that when they return home they will tell family and friends it is indeed better in the Bahamas.”

FIU (8-4 overall, 6-2 in Conference USA play) will be led to its fourth all-time bowl appearance by head coach Butch Davis, who is in his second season (16-9 record) at FIU and his 12th season as a college head coach (95-52 overall record at FIU, North Carolina and Miami).

The 2018 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl will be the second consecutive bowl game for the Panthers as FIU played in the 2017 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl under Davis’ direction.

“It was absolutely electric in our athletic department when we heard the news. The players were unbelievably excited and I think it’s a great opportunity to get a great experience. Even more than that I want the players to enjoy the hospitality of the Bahamas. The decades I have been here to visit the people have been absolutely wonderful,” Davis said. “We’ve gone through some unbelievable adversity. I’m proud of these young men and the way they dealt with the challenges and adversity. Having an opportunity to qualify for a bowl was a little bit of a mystery at the beginning of the season and we are unbelievably excited about this opportunity.”

The Panthers come into the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl with victories in six of their last eight games.

“We are very excited to be here, this is a game for us where we feel right at home,” said Pete Garcia, executive director of sports and entertainment for FIU. “We have a relationship in place with the Bahamas Government and we will continue to strengthen and make those relationships even stronger. We feel the Bahamas is our front porch so we are very excited for an opportunity to be a part of this experience.”

Toledo (7-5, 5-3 in Mid-American Conference play) will be led to its 18th all-time bowl appearance by head coach Jason Candle, who is in his third full season (28-12) as a college head coach (all at Toledo).

The 2018 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl will be the fifth-straight bowl game for the Rockets, and the eighth in the last nine seasons. This will be the fourth bowl game for the Rockets under Candle’s direction, as he was named head coach prior to the 2015 Boca Raton Bowl, and in all three full seasons as Toledo’s head coach.

“As we all know bowl games are better in the Bahamas. It’ll be a cultural change for our guys and maybe about 90 per cent of our guys have not had an international flight ever,” Candle said.

“This will be a great experience for our universities to showcase our great game to a different part of the world and show the youth of the islands the opportunities this game can provide for them, not only athletically but educationally”

The Rockets come into the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl on a two-game win streak and victories in four of their final five games.

“If this is any indicator as far as the hospitality we received in a couple of days, our teams are in for a real treat,” said Toledo vice president and athletic director Mike O’Brien. “We’re not quite as close as FIU, it’s about 30 degrees and grey in Toledo so we are excited to be here. This was definitely the bowl our team wanted to go.”

Tickets to the 2018 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl can be purchased at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium Box Office, online at NSA-Bahamas.com and by phone at 325-0376.

The 15 combined victories (eight for FIU and seven for Toledo) between this year’s teams is one shy of tying the most in Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl history (2016, 2017).

This will be the fourth all-time meeting between FIU and Toledo, and the first between the schools since the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit, where FIU won 34-32. FIU leads the series over Toledo 2-1.

The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl series between Conference USA and the MAC is tied 2-2.