What is the Quick Lane Bowl in college football? Date, venue, history and more explored

The Quick Lane Bowl is a relatively new bowl game introduced in college football. It's backed by the Detroit Lions of the NFL and takes place in their home stadium, Ford Field in Detroit.

Last season, New Mexico State beat Bowling Green 24-19 to win the bowl game. The lineup for the teams that will face in this campaign's bowl game will be announced on Dec. 3. Until then, let's look into the history of the Quick Lane Bowl.

---

What is the Quick Lane Bowl in college football?

The bowl game is an annual post-season matchup that started in 2014. It came in as a replacement for the ceased Little Caesars Pizza Bowl after reports emerged from ESPN that the Detroit Lions were looking for a new bowl game between the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conferences.

Thus, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl lost its venue after the inception of the new bowl game by the Lions. In 2014, the team also announced that automobile manufacturer Ford acquired the sponsorship rights for the bowl game.

Thus, it went on to be named the Quick Lane Bowl after its auto shop brand, Quick Lane. Since then, Ford has been the title sponsor, thanks to their multi-year deal.

---

Who plays in the Quick Lane Bowl?

Initially, the bowl game was played between a team from the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference. In Oct. 2014, the organizers went on to announce a secondary tie-in with the MAC conference.

Last season, New Mexico State participated as an independent program before joining the Conference-USA this year. That was because the Big Ten had two teams in the playoffs, and there were not enough bowl-eligible teams to fulfill the requirement. Thus New Mexico State was selected as the replacement team.

Moreover, the Nevada Wolfpack from the Mountain West Conference accepted the invitation to play in the bowl game during the 2021 campaign, where they lost to Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference.

---

When is the Quick Lane Bowl in 2023?

When this bowl game took over Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, it also took over its traditional schedule of Dec. 26.

Thus, like every year, this year's bowl game is also scheduled to be played on Dec. 26. It's slated to kick off at around 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on television on the ESPN Network.