UL football fans now have a date and time to circle on the postseason calendar.

The New Orleans Bowl has its date and time locked in, with the game at 7 p.m. Dec. 22 and back in its Louisiana Superdome home after a one-year move to Cajun Field. The game will again match the Sun Belt Conference champion - or one of its champions after last year's odd tiebreaker - against a Conference USA opponent.

The bowl was one of 31 recently licensed by the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee. That group reviewed 32 applications, but deferred action on a renewal of the financially strapped Houston Bowl, meaning either 62 or 64 of the 119 Division I-A teams will go bowling at the end of the season.

Becoming bowl-eligible will be a little easier this year, though, with approval of a measure that makes 6-6 teams eligible for bids.

The New Orleans Bowl has traditionally been the first bowl of the season, providing unique positioning that likely led to bigger television ratings. But the early dates provided a challenge for several competing teams due to late determinations and final exams, with Southern Mississippi having its pre-bowl workouts in the middle of finals last December.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com