MSU to play Washburn in Kanza Bowl

RICHARDSON, Texas – Midwestern State will represent the Lone Star Conference and play Washburn from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in the second annual Lower Kanza Bowl on December 4 in Topeka, Kan., bowl officials announced on Monday.  Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. at Hummer Sports Park.
  
The Kanza (pronounced CANS-uh) Bowl, one of only three NCAA Division II bowl games, matches the best non-playoff team from the LSC against a counterpart from the MIAA.
  
“Midwestern State is enjoying yet another solid football season and is very worthy of a postseason appearance,” LSC Commissioner Stan Wagnon said. “Bill Maskill has helped the Mustangs to average nearly eight wins per season in his nine years as their coach, so they’ll enter the Kanza Bowl with a lot of confidence and I look for them to represent the Lone Star Conference in a very positive way.”
  
The Mustangs (8-3) are set to appear in just their second bowl game in school history and will face Washburn for the first time ever.  MSU’s last bowl appearance was 63 years ago in the 1947 Kickapoo Bowl.
  
The Ichabods (7-4) will be playing in their eighth postseason game and the first since a first round NCAA playoff game in 2007 when they fell to West Texas A&M, 41-40. The game will be the Ichabods' third bowl game appearance joining the 1986 Aztec Bowl and the 2004 Mineral Water Bowl.
  
Hummer Sports Park seats 6,000 fans – 4,000 on the home side and 2,000 in the visitor bleachers – and has an AstroPlay synthetic grass field.  The conferences agreed that the selected MIAA team will always be the home team, while the selected LSC team will be the visitor.
  
Lower (rhymes with power), Inc. is the title sponsor for the event, while the Topeka Holiday Inn will serve as headquarters for the MSU contingent.
  
In the inaugural Kanza Bowl last season, WTAMU beat Nebraska-Omaha, 31-25. This year’s game promises to be a competitive contest as LSC teams are 2-3 in games against MIAA opponents this season, including Abilene Christian’s 34-26 win at Washburn on Sept. 4. MSU, by comparison, dropped a 31-28 decision at ACU about a month later.
  
Each of the combined seven losses suffered by MSU and Washburn this year came to Division II  playoff teams. MSU lost only to ACU, Texas A&M-Kingsville and WTAMU, while Washburn suffered defeats to ACU, Central Missouri, Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri.