Cortland to face Union in inaugural New York Bowl
TROY, N.Y. – Union College and SUNY Cortland have been selected as the participants for the inaugural New York Bowl, which will be hosted by Union on Saturday, Nov. 18, at noon at Frank Bailey Field in Schenectady.
The New York Bowl is a partnership between the Liberty League and Empire 8 Athletic Conference in which the top team from each conference not selected for the NCAA Division III Championship is invited to participant in the regional bowl game. By agreement, the Liberty League representative will host in odd years while the Empire 8 representative will host in even years.
The Union Dutchmen, which went 7-3 under second-year head coach Jeff Behrman, tied for the second-best overall record in the Liberty League behind only league champion RPI (8-2). The Cortland Red Dragons, which went 6-4 under 21st-year head coach Dan MacNeill, finished second in the Empire 8 behind 10th ranked and unbeaten SUNY Brockport.
The New York Bowl will be the third all-time meeting between the two storied programs with the previous two meetings also occurring in the postseason. The Dutchmen earned a 42-14 win in an NCAA first-round game at Frank Bailey Field in 1989. The teams last met in 2007 with the Red Dragons earning a 23-7 win in the ECAC Northeast Bowl played at Cortland Stadium.
The New York Bowl between the Liberty League and Empire 8 joins a list of other Division III regional bowl games. The Centennial-MAC Bowl Series features two bowls against those respective Pennsylvania-based conferences. The New England Bowl Partnership features two bowl games between teams from the Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC), the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC), the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is also hosting four games for its member institutions at the University of Delaware Stadium.
"The Liberty League is pleased to partner with the Empire 8 to provide a postseason championship opportunity for our student-athletes,” said Liberty League Commissioner Tracy King at the time of the announcement. “This unique experience will provide our football student-athletes with a postseason experience that many of our student-athletes in other sports receive through conference tournament participation. We look forward to this great competitive opportunity.”
“The New York State Bowl Game will be an exceptional event for institutions, student-athletes, football fans and our campus communities,” said Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano. “It’s the beginning of what will be an unrivaled football tradition between two of the best football conferences in the country.”
Ticket prices for the New York Bowl will be $10 for bleacher reserved seats and $5 for general admission. Students will be admitted free.