Utah State and Kent State will assist in kicking off the 2019 college football bowl season in the Frisco Bowl, which has quite the interesting origin story. Bowl games see their names change from time to time, as well as their sponsors, but how many are sold by a conference to a television network and then moved to an entirely new location? That's the history of The Frisco Bowl, which began as The Miami Beach Bowl. Its original owner was the American Athletic Conference, but the conference sold the game to ESPN, and ESPN moved the game to Frisco, Texas, where it has been since 2017.
So far, the first two meetings have not been exciting. Louisiana Tech beat SMU in 2017, and last year Ohio shut out San Diego State 27-0. Hopefully, Utah State and Kent State will provide a more exciting finish. The two programs had very different seasons given their preseason expectations and will hope to end it on a high note on Friday night.
Let's take a closer look at what you can expect to see from the final bowl game on Friday night with some expert picks both straight up and against the spread.
Storylines
Utah State: The 2019 season has been a bit of a disappointment for Utah State. In Gary Andersen's first season back at the helm, Utah State fell from 11 wins last season to 7-5 this year. Quarterback Jordan Love began the season with a Heisman Trophy campaign, but his numbers fell off as well. He enters this game having thrown for 3,085 yards, but with 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. This will be Love's final game with the Aggies, as he announced he would enter the NFL Draft and forego his final season of eligibility.
Kent State: Kent State is not a program with a history of success. This will be the program's fourth bowl appearance in its history, and first since 2012. Kent State won 11 games that season and won only 16 in the next six. Sean Lewis took over the program last year and went 2-10. Now in his second season, the Flashes have improved to 6-6. Regardless of how this game goes, it will be hard to consider the 2019 season anything but a major success for Lewis and the Kent State program.
Viewing information
Event: Frisco Bowl
Date: Friday, Dec. 20 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Toyota Stadium -- Frisco, Texas
TV: ESPN2 | Live stream: WatchESPN.com
Frisco Bowl prediction, picks
While Kent State has the better story coming into this game, Utah State has the better team. Love has not played as well as expected, but he's entering the NFL Draft for a reason. He's an NFL talent, and Utah State is the more talented team overall. The Aggies should pick up a win here, as well as a cover. Pick: Utah State (-7.5)
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