In a rather ironic twist, the UConn football team not only became bowl eligible with a victory over previously undefeated Houston but the Cougars had a say in which bowl game the Huskies would be playing in.

With Houston winning the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship game with a 24-13 victory over Temple, the Huskies accepted the conference's slot in the St. Petersburg Bowl which will be played at 11 a.m. on Dec. 26 against Marshall. A Temple win likely would have seen UConn playing in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 22.

Marshall (9-3) averages nearly 190 rushing yards in its nine wins but only 110 per game in losses to Ohio, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.

Quarterback Chase Litton ranks fifth nationally among freshmen with a 133.56 quarterback rating as he has completed 59 percent of his passes for 2,387 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The running game features five players with between 63-86 rushing attempts.

Davonte Allen, who had a total of 42 catches in his first three seasons, has team-leading marks of 56 catches and 696 yards highlighted by making 12 catches for 232 yards in a win over Charlotte.

Defensively, Gary Thompson has a team-leading eight sacks while senior linebacker Evan McKelvey leads the team with 113 tackles.

This will be UConn's first bowl appearance since losing to Oklahoma in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl. The redshirt seniors signed with UConn about a month after the Fiesta Bowl.

The Huskies had nine games this season allowing less than 350 yards of offense which is the most for a UConn defense since the 2008 season with six of the top 14 tacklers being seniors including top tackler Andrew Adams.