Game Name: | Fenway Bowl |
Subheader: | 2nd Fenway Bowl |
Title Sponsor: | Wasabi |
Date Game Played: | December 28 |
Year Game Played: | 2023 |
Football Season: | 2023 |
Stadium: | Fenway Park |
City: | Boston, Massachusetts |
Visitor School: | Southern Methodist University |
Visitor Name Short: | SMU |
Visitor Nickname: | Mustangs |
Visitor Record: | 11–2 |
Visitor Conference: | The American |
Visitor Rank Ap: | 17 |
Visitor Rank Coaches: | 19 |
Visitor Rank Cfp: | 24 |
Visitor Coach: | Rhett Lashlee |
Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
Home School: | Boston College |
Home Name Short: | Boston College |
Home Nickname: | Eagles |
Home Record: | 6–6 |
Home Conference: | ACC |
Home Coach: | Jeff Hafley |
Home 1Q: | 3 |
Home 2Q: | 7 |
Home 3Q: | 0 |
Home 4Q: | 13 |
Mvp: | Thomas Castellanos (QB, Boston College)[1] & Kam Arnold (LB, Boston College)[2] |
Odds: | SMU by 10.5[3] |
Halftime: | Boston College Marching Band, SMU Mustang Band |
Referee: | Kevin Mar (Big 12)[4] |
Attendance: | 16,238 |
Us Network: | ESPN |
Us Announcers: | Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), and Sherree Burruss (sideline) |
The 2023 Fenway Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2023, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The Fenway Bowl game featured SMU from the American Athletic Conference (The American) and Boston College from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The game began at approximately 11:00 a.m. EST and aired on ESPN.[5] [6] The Fenway Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by cloud storage company Wasabi Technologies and was officially known as the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured Boston College from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and SMU from the American Athletic Conference (The American). This was the second meeting between Boston College and SMU, their prior meeting being a 31–29 SMU victory in 1986.[7]
The Eagles and Mustangs entered the game due to become conference opponents starting with the 2024 season, as SMU committed to join the ACC.[8]
See also: 2023 Boston College Eagles football team. Boston College finished the regular season 6–6, going 3–5 in ACC conference play. This was the Eagles' first appearance in a bowl game since the 2020 Birmingham Bowl, which they lost.
See also: 2023 SMU Mustangs football team. SMU finished the regular season 11–2, going 8–0 in conference play in The American. The Mustangs defeated the then 22nd-ranked Tulane, 26–14, in the AAC Championship Game, the program's first conference title since 1984 when it won a share of the Southwest Conference title.[9] The Mustangs entered the bowl 17th in the AP poll and 24th in the College Football Playoff rankings.
This was the Mustangs' second-straight bowl appearance, having appeared in the 2022 New Mexico Bowl, which they lost.