JUDSON Bennett’s Coastal Network
Opinion
Delaware Blue Hens Football Team Bowl Bound in First Year as Division One College Football Program
Dear Friends,
As a former Delaware Football player and graduate, I’m so proud that the Blue Hens football team is going to a bowl game in their first year as a Division One college football member! I remember many years ago, signs all over the locker room: “Defense is Tackling. Offence is Blocking, Hardness is Football!” The student enrollment is just under 25,000 and I’m sure they are proud of their football team.
Quite an accomplishment at the highest level of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Bravo to Delaware football. I cannot wait to see the bowl game opponent, which will be announced following this coming weekend’s games.
How are you feeling about this accomplishment, folks? Let me know. Would love to hear and read your feedback, as I always do!
Respectfully Yours,
JUDSON Bennett–Coastal Network
WDEL Story:
Delaware knows it is going to a bowl game, but which one?
Sean Greene Dec 1, 2025 – 10:30 am
The University of Delaware locked in one of the 82 bowl slots for this year’s postseason following their victory over UTEP on Saturday, but now the question is where will their postseason game be played?
Delaware needed to reach 6 victories this season, achieved with the win over the Miners, while also having just enough other teams not get to 6 wins, to find a slot at the table.
Delaware was not an automatic bowl qualifier with 6 victories because they are a first-year FBS provisional program, meaning they could only be a seat-filler for teams that did not reach bowl eligibility.
The final crucial result game Saturday night, when Alabama defeated Auburn in the Iron Bowl, knocking the 5-7 Eagles out of the bowl picture.
Conference USA has loose ties to several bowl games, including the Cure Bowl (Orlando, FL), 68 Ventures Bowl (Mobile, AL), Myrtle Beach Bowl (Conway, SC), Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans (Boca Raton, FL), New Orleans Bowl, Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl (Frisco, TX), Isleta New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM), Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA), and an unnamed ESPN Events Bowl that was the Bahamas Bowl.
Most bowls will not be codified until after Saturday’s conference championship games and Sunday’s selection of the 12-team FBS playoffs, when some of the top bowls will know which disappointed teams will be playing for a random trophy instead of a national championship.
That said, here are where a few national publications have placed the Blue Hens.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura – ESPN Events Bowl vs. UTSA – Formerly the Bahamas Bowl, this game doesn’t have a home at the moment.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach – Staff DNA Cure Bowl vs. Old Dominion – Delaware’s former and brief CAA rival.
CBS – Myrtle Beach Bowl vs. Southern Miss – Delaware would face Brett Favre’s alma mater.
Athlon Sports – 68 Ventures Bowl vs. Georgia Southern – A rematch of 3 I-AA National Semifinals, with the Hens winning in 1997 and 2010. Also the team KC Keeler won his first game against in 2002.
Sports Illustrated – ESPN Events Bowl vs. Coastal Carolina – Former Archmere Head Coach Joe Moglia led the Chanticleers from 2012-16 and 2018.
ON3 – Staff DNA Cure Bowl vs. Coastal Carolina – Another vote for Delaware being sent near Disney World.
Delaware is already accepting deposits for a bowl game, with priorities going to donors and season ticket holders, UD alumni, and then other fans.