Dec. 9, 2011
VIDEO: TicketCity Bowl Team Announcement
VIDEO: Tom Bradley and Dave Joyner Address the Media in Dallas
DALLAS - Officials from the TicketCity Bowl hosted administrators and coaches from Penn State and Houston in an event at the Omni Hotel in Dallas on Thursday to officially announce the match-up for the second annual game. The No. 24/20 Nittany Lions will open what is traditionally one of the biggest sporting days of the year when they face the No. 20/17 Cougars on January 2 at 11 p.m. CT in historic Cotton Bowl Stadium.
Penn State Acting Athletic Director Dave Joyner and Interim Head Coach Tom Bradley addressed the guests in attendance and also spoke with invited media.
"Our President, Dr. Rod Erickson, is very excited for us to play in this bowl game," said Joyner. "We are honored for the TicketCity Bowl to grant us this opportunity. Our fans and our students are very excited about coming here. We have a great history in Dallas...and we have great memories of Cotton Bowl Stadium."
Penn State, co-champions of the Big Ten Leaders Division, will be appearing in its 44th bowl game all-time and will be playing in a New Year's bowl for the fourth consecutive year and for the sixth time in the last seven years.
Penn State (9-3) will be meeting Houston (12-1) for just the third time overall and for the first time in a postseason contest. The Nittany Lions are playing in Dallas for the first time since beating Baylor at the 1975 Cotton Bowl.
"Our players are excited to play a great Houston team," said Bradley. "One of the things I told Dr. Joyner when he asked about my thoughts on a bowl game was `we just want to play someone awful good so we can prove what we are all about.' He probably overdid it a little bit."
Tickets for the 2012 TicketCity Bowl are on sale at www.GoPSUsports.com or by calling 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.