Christmas will be anything but snowy for the Miami University Football team this year. Officially announced on Sunday, December 4th, the team will be attending the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in the Sunshine State following Christmas Day.

Miami University hasn't seen a bowl game since the GoDaddy.com Bowl in January 2011, where they took on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, beating them 35-21.

This year, the MAC's Miami RedHawks will be matched up against the SEC's Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs' overall record this season is 5-7, meanwhile, the RedHawks made history with their recovery from 0-6 to 6-6 overall.

Miami Football hasn't always had this type of success, though, winning less than four games per season in the last four seasons. Commenting on the excitement that the seniors feel is senior linebacker, Matt Smallbone, stating, "It is a surreal feeling when I think about how far we have come from our 0-12 season 4 years ago. It is rewarding to see our senior class who has put in so much work and effort in these past years to finally come to fruition and become bowl eligible."

Smallbone, who will be graduating this year in May, explained with honesty about the sudden improvement of the team, "Nothing big has changed. We were always capable of winning those games we lost. We just would kill ourselves with mistakes that we could control. Getting that first win was huge in that it made us realize how good we are when we do not make those mistakes and just do our jobs. Really looking forward to see how we match up against a good SEC team."

Fans, alumni, and the entire student body are excitedly anticipating the bowl game as well, with an undeniable increase in support for the team circulating the Miami community since the final win on November 22nd against Ball State.

While the student body is having a hard time swallowing the idea that the bowl game is so close to the holidays and so far away from where the majority of the students live, ALL are encouraged to tune into ESPN and cheer on the RedHawks on December 26th.

#LoveAndHonor