Dallas

North Texas Faces Troy in Return to Big Easy's New Orleans Bowl

New Orleans Bowl played Dec. 16 at noon

The Mean Green of UNT will be heading to The Big Easy to square off against the Troy Trojans in the New Orleans Bowl Dec. 16.

The Mean Green are coming off of a loss in the Conference USA Championship against Florida Atlantic on Saturday.

This year's bowl appearance marks their first back-to-back bowl appearance since the early 2000's when the Mean Green made it to the New Orleans Bowl every year from 2001-2004. [[459650663,R]]

The past two bowls for the Mean Green have been close to home at the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2014 and 2016.

NBC 5 sports director Newy Scruggs and Jean Jacques Taylor give their prediction on who will emerge from the college football playoffs and be crowned national champion.

North Texas (9-4, 7-1 C-USA) vs. Troy (10-2, 7-1 Sun Belt), Dec. 16, noon (ESPN)

LOCATION: New Orleans

TOP PLAYERS

  • North Texas: QB Mason Fine. He's thrown for 3,749 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this season. Seven different receivers have caught at least 24 passes.
  • Troy: LB Tron Folsom. He leads the team with 77 tackles and also has nine tackles for a loss and an interception.

NOTABLE

  • North Texas: The Mean Green set several single-season program records, including scoring, total offense, passing yards and passing touchdowns. They won eight of their last 10 games.
  • Troy: The Trojans' biggest moment of the season was when they beat LSU 24-21 on Sept. 30.

LAST TIME

  • Troy beat North Texas 14-7 in 2012. Troy has won eight of 10 vs. North Texas.

BOWL HISTORY

  • North Texas is in its 10th bowl game and has 3-6 record in previous bowls.
  • Troy is in its seventh bowl game and has a 3-3 record in previous bowls.
The road to college football's next champion is becoming a little clearer as the field is set for the College Football Playoff.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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