December's Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl will start before noon and serve as the lead-up to the College Football Playoff semifinal games played later that day.
The game will be played Dec. 29 at 11:15 a.m., Arizona Bowl founder Ali Farhang said on Thursday. It will be shown live on CBS Sports Network, the same station that showed last year's thriller between New Mexico State and Utah State. NMSU won the battle of the Aggies in overtime.
This year's game will lead into the national semifinal games, which will be played at the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowls. The first semifinal game will kick off at 2 p.m., with the other to follow at 6 p.m.
Farhang said he was thrilled to schedule the Arizona Bowl for a Saturday. The previous two Arizona Bowls were played on Fridays, and the inaugural game — a Nevada win over Colorado State in 2015 — took place on a Tuesday.
Arizona Bowl officials have not commented on a Thursday report that says the game could replace the Las Vegas Bowl as a destination for the Mountain West Conference champion. The game currently pits a Mountain West team against a Sun Belt team.
