Date set for 10th annual Camellia Bowl

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The 10th annual Camellia Bowl is set to take place on Saturday, Dec. 23, at 11 a.m. at the historic Cramton Bowl in downtown Montgomery.

The bowl will air on ESPN and feature teams from the Sun Belt Conference, the Mid-American Conference, or Conference USA.

“We’re thrilled to be celebrating the Camellia Bowl’s 10th anniversary this year,” said executive director Johnny Williams. “We’ve enjoyed successful decade-long relationships with both ESPN and the Bowl Season while featuring many exciting games. We look forward to continuing that tradition as we welcome two accomplished programs and their passionate fanbases to Montgomery in December.”

Eight of the first nine games have been decided by eight points or less, including the inaugural Camellia Bowl in 2014 when Bowling Green defeated South Alabama 33-28. Last year, Buffalo became the first repeat winner of the bowl with a 23-21 win over Georgia Southern.

In addition to the postseason Camellia Bowl, Montgomery will host two preseason kickoff games this season. North Alabama will meet Mercer in the 9th FCS Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN, the sixth FCS Kickoff game played at historic Cramton Bowl. Also, Tuskegee and Fort Valley State will square off in the third annual Boeing Red Tails Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3, at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. Fort Valley State has defeated Tuskegee in the previous two games, which was created with ESPN Events in 2021 to honor the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.