The Orlando Sports Foundation (OSF) announced Sunday that the San Jose State Spartans will take on the Georgia State Panthers in the inaugural 2015 AutoNation Cure Bowl presented by Florida Hospital. The game, which directly supports the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), will be played on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl – the only site in the country to host three bowl games. It is the first and only bowl game to be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (4 p.m. PST).
“We are honored to host Georgia State and San Jose State at the first-ever AutoNation Cure Bowl presented by Florida Hospital,” said Orlando Sports Foundation CEO, Alan Gooch. “OSF is led by our mission of bringing teams together to find a cure for cancer. We are proud to have the Panthers and Spartans join our team because, along with our partners at BCRF, I believe together, we can tackle cancer.”
This is the first bowl appearance for Georgia State (6-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) since making the move to Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2013. The Panthers won their last four games to become bowl eligible, which included a huge 34-7 win over rival Georgia Southern.
“We are thrilled for our student-athletes as well as for our administration, our student body and our alumni and fans,” Georgia State Head Coach Trent Miles said. “This is a great honor and reward for these young men and all the hard work they have put in, and it shows the direction our program is headed in such a (short) time.
Georgia State will represent the Sun Belt Conference in the match up.
This is the first matchup between Georgia State and the Mountain West Conference’s San Jose State (5-7, 4-4 Mountain West).
“The San Jose State University football program is both honored and excited to participate in the AutoNation Cure Bowl and the festivities surrounding it,” San Jose State head coach Ron Caragher. “Our players look forward to another opportunity to compete together as a team and represent our great university. We are thankful for this tremendous opportunity for our program and look forward to contributing to this bowl’s cause – raising awareness and helping find a cure for breast cancer.”
San Jose State is just the third team from California to play in a bowl game in Orlando joining California (1992 Citrus) and Southern Cal (1989 Citrus).
The Spartans earned a bowl bid due to their success in the classroom based upon posting an NCAA Academic Progress Report (APR) of 975. Nebraska and Minnesota also received bids with 5-7 marks.
Tickets are on sale at www.CureBowl.com. In addition to the game, ticket holders will have access to the Florida Hospital Cure Village as well as the AutoNation Tailgate Party and Concert featuring country music stars Joe Nichols and Jana Kramer.
“The AutoNation Cure Bowl is more than a football game, it is an effort to help find a cure for breast cancer,” OSF Board President Megan Dowdy said. “This game will make history and change lives. Every ticket sold to the AutoNation Cure Bowl could put us one step closer to finding a cure for cancer.”
We are very proud of the Georgia State Panthers, who have made a complete turnaround in their football program since we started our coverage 3 years ago. We are also happy for Head Coach Trent Miles, whose memorable program improvement at Indiana State initially gained the attention of the Panthers. By his third year as head coach he was able to get the Sycamores to a winning record and it seems his ways have continued here in Atlanta.
We’ll see you all in Orlando!
-TPR Team