Michigan State To Play Oregon in Redbox Bowl on New Year's Eve
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State has accepted an invitation to play in the Redbox Bowl against Oregon on Monday, Dec. 31 at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The game will be nationally televised on FOX.
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 7-5 overall record (5-4 Big Ten) and are looking to win their second straight bowl game, while Oregon went 8-4 overall and placed fourth in the Pac-12 North Division with a 5-4 conference mark. It will be first-ever matchup between the two schools in a bowl game.
The Redbox Bowl marks the 11th bowl bid in 12 seasons under MSU head coach Mark Dantonio, who owns a 107-50 record at the helm of the Spartans. MSU has won five of its last six bowl games.
Dantonio already owns school records for most bowl wins (five) and bowl appearances (11), including a school-record four-game bowl winning streak with victories in the 2011 Outback Bowl vs. No. 18 Georgia, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU, 2014 Rose Bowl against No. 5 Stanford, and 2015 Cotton Bowl vs. No. 4 Baylor. The Spartans defeated No. 18 Washington State, 42-17, in the 2017 Holiday Bowl.
"We're excited about the opportunity to represent the Big Ten in the Redbox Bowl against a great Pac-12 opponent in Oregon," said Dantonio. "We've played two outstanding games against Oregon back in 2014 and 2015, and it will be exciting to face them in a bowl game for the first time in school history. It's always a special moment to play in a bowl game and the week will be a rewarding experience for our players and program. San Francisco is a great town and we're going to be playing in a first-class facility at Levi's Stadium.
"Facing Oregon will be a tremendous challenge. They beat Washington, who won the Pac-12 and is playing in the Rose Bowl, and also Cal and Arizona State. They have a high prolific offense and feature one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Justin Herbert.
"We've been in every single football game this season playing in a very difficult conference. Our players will be ready for the challenge and I know they're motivated to close out the season on a winning note."
The MSU-Oregon all-time series is tied 3-3, as the home team has won the six previous meetings. This will be the first neutral-site matchup.
Dantonio is 1-1 against Oregon, with a win over the No. 7 Ducks in Spartan Stadium in 2015 en route to a Big Ten Championship. Oregon won the 2014 matchup in Eugene on its way to winning the Pac-12 title. Both of those matchups featured AP Top 10 clashes and the winners eventually secured berths in the College Football Playoff.
The Spartans will be making their 28th all-time bowl appearance (12-15 record).
Spartan fans are encouraged to purchase bowl game tickets from the official team allocation through the Spartan Ticket Office. MSU officials anticipate having a sufficient quantity of bowl game tickets to accommodate Spartan fans.
Want the latest breaking MSU news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Spartan Nation newsletterWHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE!Don’t miss any of the latest up to the second updates on Michigan State Sports when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter
