Tulsa accepts bid to play Utah in Armed Forces Bowl

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ Tulsa accepted a bid Tuesday to represent Conference USA in the Armed Forces Bowl against Utah. <br/><br/>Tulsa (8-4) will make its third bowl appearance in four seasons under

Tuesday, November 28th 2006, 12:17 pm

By: News On 6

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ Tulsa accepted a bid Tuesday to represent Conference USA in the Armed Forces Bowl against Utah.

Tulsa (8-4) will make its third bowl appearance in four seasons under coach Steve Kragthorpe, and play in its 14th bowl overall, in the Dec. 23 game on the TCU campus against Utah (7-5).

The Utes, from the Mountain West Conference, are in their fourth straight bowl.

Before Kragthorpe became their coach, the Golden Hurricane hadn't played in a postseason game since the 1991 Freedom Bowl and had been to only three bowls the previous 37 seasons.

Tulsa ended its regular season with a 38-3 victory over Tulane on Friday that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Kragthorpe said many of his players are from Texas and that he's excited about the bowl's proximity to Oklahoma, which should make it easier for Tulsa fans to attend.

``Fort Worth is a great city and it's a great opportunity for a number of our players who played high school football in Texas to return to the state and play in front of their families and friends,'' Kragthorpe said in a statement.

Utah and Tulsa have played three times but never in a bowl game. Tulsa has a 2-1 series advantage, including a 21-13 win at home in their last meeting in 1997, a year after Utah's 45-19 victory on its home field.

The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl, is sponsored by Bell Helicopter. This is the fourth year it will be played.