Marshall, Buffalo to Play in 7th Annual Camellia Bowl

The Marshall Thundering Herd and Buffalo Bulls are set to meet in the 7th annual Camellia Bowl in Montgomery. The game will be played on Christmas Day at 1:30PM and televised on ESPN.  

“The Camellia Bowl has a knack for down-to-the-wire finishes and we expect another great game from Buffalo and Marshall,” Johnny Williams, executive director of the Camellia Bowl said.  “I’d like to express my gratitude to ESPN Events, Montgomery County and the City of Montgomery for making this bowl season possible. We will host two bowl games in three days at the Cramton Bowl, and excited to be a part of this historic occasion.”

Prior to the Camellia Bowl, the Montgomery Bowl will be played at the Cramton Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 6PM. That game will feature the Memphis Tigers and Florida Atlantic Owls.

Marshall and Buffalo were Mid-American Conference rivals from 1999-2004. The teams have combined to win 10 MAC Eastern division titles.

Marshall won six straight division titles in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Buffalo won four East division crowns in 2007, 2008, 2018 and 2020. The teams have met eight times previously with six of those games coming in MAC play.

Marshall has won all eight meetings with Buffalo. The teams have not played since a 48-14 win by the Thundering Herd on Oct. 23, 2004.  

The city of Montgomery is synonymous with Christmas Day bowl games. The annual Blue-Gray Football Classic was played at the historic Cramton Bowl from 1939-2003.   

Playing on Christmas Day adds to the excitement of Camellia Bowl, which has had some thrilling games with the first six games decided by 25 total points. All six games were decided in the fourth quarter, with three games decided on the final play.

CAMELLIA BOWL ALL-TIME RESULTS:

Bowling Green 33, South Alabama 28 (Dec. 20, 2014)

Appalachian State 31, Ohio 29 (Dec. 19, 2015)

Appalachian State 31, Toledo 28 (Dec. 17, 2016)

Middle Tennessee 35, Arkansas State 30 (Dec. 16, 2017)

Georgia Southern 23, Eastern Michigan 21 (Dec. 15, 2018)

Arkansas State 34, FIU 26 (Dec. 21, 2019)

— Information from The Camellia Bowl