MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Appalachian State arrived early Tuesday evening for the 2016 Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. The Mountaineers' buses pulled up to a welcome party at the team hotel as the Apps prepare to settle in for their final practices ahead of Saturday's third annual Camellia Bowl.
App (9-3) faces Toledo (9-3) from Mid-American Conference at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Cramton Bowl. The game will be televised on ESPN. The telecast will be App's eighth on national TV this season, the most in school history.
BOWL CENTRAL - TICKETS - CAMELLIA BOWL PRESS CONFERENCE
BOWL TICKETS - Tickets are available by visiting BOWL CENTRAL or by clicking HERE. For additional information or help with purchasing tickets, contact the App State Ticket Office at 828-262-2079. Additional information on tickets, bowl week events, gameday information, travel, and lodging, visit BOWL CENTRAL and appstatesports.com throughout the week.
App puts a wrap on Head Coach Scott Satterfield's fourth season on Saturday and, regardless of the outcome, the Mountaineers' transition to the FBS level has extremely successful and, at times, flat out dominant as the team tries to add another record to the move.
The Apps are 25-2 in their last 27 games against Group of Five opponents and, with a win on Saturday, would become the first team to win bowl games in their first two eligible seasons.
The majority of App's game prep is in the rearview for the second place team out of the MAC West, behind 12-0 and Cotton Bowl-bound Western Michigan. The final days in Montgomery are spent fine-tuning and building up to Saturday's finale.
“We got most all off our prep done in the days before coming (to Montgomery),” Satterfield told the local media at App's team hotel. “We'll go through our finals few days, our normal game week routine, these three days before the game here in Montgomery. We know the focus is a little tougher once you get down here in the bowl setting, among the fans. We did a good job last year of focusing in toward game time.”
App will practice tomorrow afternoon at Alabama State University and visit the Civil Rights Museum on Thursday morning in downtown Montgomery before a closed practice on Thursday afternoon.
TWO OF NATION'S BESTS LAST TWO SEASONS – App State has 20 wins the last two seasons heading into Saturday's bowl, while Toledo is a win behind with 19. App is 10th among FBS programs despite not having a conference championship game, tied with the likes of Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Navy. Toledo is tied for 16th with Boise State, Florida State, Washington. Alabama (27), Clemson (26), and Ohio State (23) lead the list.
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