Memphis football to play Iowa State in AutoZone Liberty Bowl to cap 2023 season
Memphis football knows its postseason destination and opponent.
The Tigers (9-3, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) will meet Iowa State (7-5, 6-3 Big 12) in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29 (2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN), it was announced Sunday. Memphis will have a chance to earn a rare 10-win season if it can beat the Cyclones in a unique situation at its home stadium.
Though the Tigers fell short of their goal to reach the AAC title game, they won three more games in 2023 than they did in 2022. Memphis lost to the three teams it was an underdog against — Missouri, Tulane and SMU — and beat the nine teams it was favored to beat.
Almost every game was close at some point, whether or not the Tigers ultimately won. Between the win over Navy on Sept. 14 and the loss to SMU on Nov. 18, Memphis both trailed and led in every game it played. That included a last-minute touchdown drive to salvage a win at North Texas, an overtime win over Charlotte and a loss to Tulane when the Tigers were up by double-digits in the second half.
The Liberty Bowl typically pits a Big 12 team against an SEC team, but Memphis ended up in the game because there were not enough bowl-eligible SEC teams to fill all the conference's bowl slots. That opened the door for an AAC team to get that spot, and the Liberty Bowl chose the hometown team.
The Cyclones are returning to a bowl game after going 4-8 in 2022. This game will be a rematch of the 2017 Liberty Bowl, when Iowa State beat Memphis 21-20.
Last season, Memphis beat Utah State in the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football to play Iowa State in AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29
