Arkansas State to play in Dec. 29 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl

Arkansas State's first road trip of 2018 took the Red Wolves to Tuscaloosa for a date with top-ranked Alabama.

Their final trip will be to Tucson for the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl.

Arkansas State will represent the Sun Belt Conference in the Dec. 29 game held at Arizona Stadium, bowl officials announced Tuesday. The Red Wolves will play a team from the Mountain West Conference. Bowl officials will announce the Red Wolves' opponent at a "bowl reveal party" scheduled for Sunday at TopGolf in Marana. CBSSports.com and Sports Illustrated both say the Arizona Bowl will pick Fresno State, while ESPN.com's Kyle Bonagura believes Wyoming will make the trip to Tucson.

The Mountain West representative will play an Arkansas State team that finished the regular season 8-4 overall and 5-4 in the Sun Belt's West Division. The Red Wolves have won their last four games by an average of 23 points. While they didn't fare as well at Alabama, losing 57-7 on Sept. 8, they rallied to win back-to-back games at Tulsa and against UNLV.

“We’re excited to continue our season at the Arizona Bowl,” A-State coach Blake Anderson said. “This will obviously be our first appearance in this bowl game, so it will give our team a new experience at a beautiful destination and a stadium where we haven’t played before. We know we will face a great opponent that will present a tough challenge, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity to win our ninth game of the season.”

The Arizona Bowl appearance will mark Arkansas State's eighth consecutive bowl game. The Red Wolves have won 67 games during that span.

This year's team is led by quarterback Justice Hansen, who has thrown for 3,172 yards and 27 touchdowns against six interceptions. Wide receiver Kirk Merritt leads the team with 939 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, and running backs Marcel Murray and Warren Wand each are averaging more than 5 yards per carry.

"Arkansas State’s rich tradition of playing football at the highest levels is evidenced by their eight consecutive bowl game appearances," said Kym Adair, the Arizona Bowl's executive director. "We look forward to sharing our Tucson hospitality and beautiful warm, winter weather with the teams and fans of Arkansas State on Dec. 29.”

The Arizona Bowl is now in its fourth year. Last year's game was a thriller, with New Mexico State — then a member of the Sun Belt — beating Utah State 26-20 in overtime. Bowl organizers are hoping they can build off the exciting finish this year. An 11:15 a.m. kickoff time should help draw fans to Arizona Stadium.

“The NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl is an excellent postseason destination for Arkansas State,” Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said. “In just three years, the bowl game has taken off and been warmly embraced by the city of Tucson. The Red Wolves are guaranteed a tremendous time and we are happy to make this announcement today to give extra planning time to the fans, student-athletes and athletic department.”