Dec. 19, 2007

New Orleans, LA - The University of Memphis Tiger football team will take on Sun Belt champion Florida Atlantic on Friday, Dec. 21, for the 2007 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be carried by ESPN2 with Mark Jones, Bob Davie and Stacey Dales providing the commentary.

Because the game is being televised by ESPN and also will be carried on ESPN Radio, Tiger fans will not have the opportunity to watch the game through internet streaming as part of the Memphis Tigers All-Access package.

Any fans who bought their tickets in advance and did not pick them up on Monday or Tuesday at the Athletic Office Building can obtain their tickets in New Orleans on Friday. The U of M ticket staff will be set up in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside (2 Poydras Street) hotel lobby from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., and then will move to the Superdome from 5 p.m. until halftime of the game. Once at the Superdome, fans who need to pick up their tickets should proceed to Gate B. Identification is required for picking up tickets. Anyone who wishes to have someone else pick up their tickets should contact the ticket office at 901-678-2331.

Fans are invited to put on their Tiger Blue and come out to the Jazz Emporium (424 Bourbon Street) to celebrate the New Orleans Bowl. The Jazz Emporium is co-owned by former Tiger and current New Orleans Saints defensive back Mike McKenzie. Tiger fans are invited to gather on Thursday from 4 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. and Friday from noon until 4 p.m. The Alumni Association will sponsor a True Blue Celebration on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Jackson Square in the French Quarter. The Mighty Sound of the South Band and cheerleaders will be there for the festivities. There will also be a pep rally on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in front of the Superdome.

Friday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Memphis and Florida Atlantic on the gridiron. Memphis played one other first-time opponent this season, which also happened to have an Owl as its mascot. The Tigers defeated the Rice Owls, 38-35, in Houston on Oct. 20. Out of the 12 games Memphis played this season, five of the opponents had a series history of three or fewer games with the Tigers. Memphis was 4-1 against opposition they had faced three or fewer times in school history, logging wins over Rice, SMU, Marshall and Jacksonville State. The only loss was to UCF.

Going Bowling
Not only was the 25-9 victory over UAB special because it snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Blazers, but also because the contest gave Memphis its sixth win of the season. With the victory, Memphis became bowl eligible for the fourth time in the last five years. The Tigers went to three straight post-season contests (2003-05) before snapping the streak last season. Of the three contests, Memphis won both the 2003 New Orleans Bowl and the 2005 Motor City Bowl, and lost in the 2004 GMAC Bowl. Memphis has a 4-1 all-time bowl record, which also includes victories in the 1956 Burley Bowl and the 1971 Pasadena Bowl.

Tigers in the Louisiana Superdome
The Memphis Tigers have played in the Louisiana Superdome 16 times since their first game in the facility versus Tulane in 1976. The U of M is 7-9 in games played at the Superdome and all but the 2003 New Orleans Bowl were against the Green Wave. Memphis defeated Tulane earlier this year in the Superdome, 28-27.

Home Sweet Dome
Two of Memphis' five bowl contests have been played in indoor facilities. Memphis won both of those contests - the 2003 New Orleans Bowl, which was played in the Louisiana Superdome and the 2005 Motor City Bowl, which was hosted at Ford Field.

C-USA Holds Slight Advantage in New Orleans Bowl
For the last five straight seasons, Conference USA has sent a team to the New Orleans Bowl. The league holds a slight 3-2 advantage over the Sun Belt and won three straight from 2003-05. The following details C-USA's participation in the New Orleans Bowl:

Year	Results
2002	North Texas 25, Cincinnati 19
2003	Memphis 27, North Texas 17
2004	Southern Miss 31, North Texas 10
2005	Southern Miss 31, Arkansas St. 19
2006	Troy 41, Rice 17

First-Time Bowl Participants
The Memphis Tigers will face Florida Atlantic in the New Orleans Bowl and this is the Owls' first-ever bowl appearance. That is similar to 2005 when Memphis faced Akron in the Motor City Bowl as the Zips were participating in their first-ever post-season contest. The Tigers won that game, 38-31.

Only a Few Can Say It
The University of Memphis is one of just seven teams in the country who will have participated in a football bowl game, the NCAA basketball tournament and the NCAA baseball tournament in the 2007 calendar year. The Tigers are also the only non-BCS program who can make the above claims in 2007. The other six teams are: Arkansas, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA and Virginia.

Tigers in December Games
The Memphis Tigers are 4-3 in games played in December, which include bowl games in 1971 and 2003-05 and regular season contests in 1918, 1950 and 1972. Memphis has never played on Dec. 21st and the latest they have played in school history was Dec. 26 in the Motor City Bowl.

Florida Tigers
The Memphis roster has two players that call the Sunshine State home. Defensive lineman Joel McCleod (Miramar) and defensive back Bryan Wright (Miami) are from the state of Florida. On the other side, FAU has no players from Tennessee on its roster.

Memphis Versus The Sun Belt
The Tigers have an all-time record of 64-45-6 against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. Memphis has played Arkansas State (27-22-5), Louisiana-Lafayette (9-4), Louisiana-Monroe (1-1), Middle Tennessee (7-13-1), North Texas (16-4) and Troy (4-1). Memphis lost to ASU, 35-31, in Jonesboro and lost to Middle Tennessee, 21-7 in Memphis this season. Memphis' last win over a Sun Belt foe was a 47-35 victory over ASU in Jonesboro on Sept. 18, 2004.

Five Selected All-C-USA in `07
The University of Memphis placed five players on both the Coaches and Media All-Conference USA teams. The only difference between the two teams for Memphis is that offensive lineman Andy Smith was picked to the first team by the coaches and the second team by the media. Joining Smith in earning league honors are wide receiver Duke Calhoun and linebacker Jake Kasser who were named to the C-USA Second Team as well as offensive lineman Dominik Riley and deep snapper Keenan Bratcher who were selected to the All-Freshman Team. This is the second season that C-USA has picked two different league teams.

3-0 to End the Regular Season
With the wins over Southern Miss, UAB and SMU to close out the 2007 schedule, Memphis has finished the year with three straight regular-season wins for the first time since 2004. Memphis won three straight at the end of the 2005 campaign, but that included the Akron win in the Motor City Bowl. Prior to 2004, Memphis had not ended the year with three consecutive regular-season wins since 1988.

Make It Six Straight
In the last six straight games, Memphis has produced a 100-yard receiver. Duke Calhoun had three straight century games versus East Carolina (107), Southern Miss (124) and UAB (159) and also logged 119 yards versus Rice. Most recently, Steven Black tallied a career-high 112 yards and Carlos Singleton hauled in eight passes for 127 yards in the regular season finale versus SMU. Maurice Jones tallied his first 100-yard game with 117 versus Tulane, while the ECU game produced two 100-yard receivers as in addition to Calhoun's 107 yards, Carlos Singleton had 100 yards on six catches.

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