Bowl games in most cases have contracts with collegiate athletic conferences that allow them first entrance into a bowl game. The Bahamas Bowl is usually reserved for a top Mid-American Conference team that missed the MAC Championship Game.
The sting of the late-season collapse still hurts for the Bobcats. After needing only a win over an average Akron team to make the MAC title game, the Bobcats fell to the Zips on Nov. 14 and then to Buffalo in the finale on Nov. 24. Instead of Ohio playing in its second straight MAC Championship, Akron slipped into that game only to lose to Toledo 45-28.