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Andre Dixon (2) runs the ball in the Huskies recent victory over Syracuse. The Huskies have accepted the bid to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. on Dec. 29.

Destination: Charlotte

Football: Huskies To Play In Meineke Car Care Bowl Dec. 29

By: Patrick Parker

Posted: 11/28/07

After waiting over for over a month, for the first time since 2004, the football team will be playing in a bowl game.

The Huskies announced Tuesday that they will be heading to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte N.C., on Dec. 29 at 1 p.m.

In front of a packed room at the Burton Family Football Complex filled with players, coaches and members of the media, UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway and head coach Randy Edsall stood over the conference phone with excited grins and accepted the team's bid from William Webb, executive director of the bowl.

"Since 2003, Randy and I have been talking about coming to this bowl and being a part of this great event in the Queen City, and we look forward to doing that," Hathaway said.

The Huskies (9-3, 5-2 Big East) became bowl eligible when they beat Louisville on Oct. 19, but after Saturday's loss to West Virginia, it wasn't certain where the team would end up playing. Edsall was hoping that any of the bowl committees would not just focus on the end of the year, but the Huskies' entire season.

"I'm just pleased for the six captains and everybody in this room," Edsall said. "The one thing you sometimes worry about with the bowls is people might not look at your whole season and what you accomplish, and I was glad the Meineke Bowl looked at our total body of work and not just what happened in one half of the game."

Once the bid was accepted the players couldn't hold back their emotions and a collected roar ripped through the meeting room. Captain Dan Davis spoke on behalf of the players and was gleaming with excitement.

"We talked about it on Sunday, but even coach didn't know where we were going," Davis said. "We were talking about it and there were a couple places we didn't want to go, but we didn't know."

UConn won't know who they will play probably until this weekend, but it is almost certain it will be a team from the ACC, making it the first time the Huskies will play in a bowl against another BCS-eligible program.

This selection couldn't have turned out any better for Hathaway, Edsall and the players, as they all acknowledged how much easier the trip for them and especially the fans will be to get down to Charlotte.

"If we couldn't get to a BCS game we felt that the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte was going to be our best opportunity to involve not only the players parents but most especially our fans," Edsall said. "We think our fans have done a tremendous job of supporting us and we definitely need them to support us again when we go down there."

Edsall and Hathaway urged all the fans to use UConnbowl.com to find all the information they want on the bowl, tickets and travel information. There will also be e-mails sent out to alumni and donors with information.

UConn will be given 12,500 tickets to be sold to fans and Hathaway also wants people to - even if they cannot attend - buy and donate tickets to the university so that they can be given to military personnel to go for the holidays. This worked well at the Motor City Bowl in 2004, according to Hathaway, and he wants to see the same success this time around.

In the first bowl game in school history, UConn beat Toledo 39-10 in Detroit.

Contact Patrick Parker at Patrick.Parker@UConn.edu.