SportsSun Belt

Sun Belt & ESPN Announce 2025 Primary Bowl Season Slate

Last Updated on June 5, 2025 2:01 pm

NEW ORLEANS – After pacing the non-autonomy conferences in Bowl Season representation for the third-straight year in 2024, the Sun Belt joins ESPN in announcing the dates, times and networks for its 2025 primary Bowl Season slate on Thursday. 

The 2025 season will conclude with the Sun Belt guaranteed a minimum of five spots in postseason bowl games—the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, StaffDNA Cure Bowl, 68 Ventures Bowl, Myrtle Beach Bowl and New Orleans Bowl. Since expanding to 14 football-playing members in 2022, the Sun Belt has placed seven-or-more teams in bowls in each of the past three seasons (7 in 2022, 12 in 2023 and 8 in 2024). 

The IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl—contested at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.—will kick off the Sun Belt’s Bowl Season at 9:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Dec. 16, on ESPN. 

The Sun Belt’s postseason presence will continue with back-to-back games on ESPN on Wednesday, Dec. 17. The StaffDNA Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla., will kick off at 5:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. CT, followed by the 68 Ventures Bowl at South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala., at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT. 

The Myrtle Beach Bowl, hosted at Coastal Carolina’s Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C., will be showcased on ESPN at 12:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. CT on Friday, Dec. 19. 

The New Orleans Bowl at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., will round out the Sun Belt’s guaranteed bowl assignments at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Dec. 23, on ESPN. 

The Sun Belt also holds backup agreements with ESPN Events and the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl and maintains access to the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP)—which guarantees a spot to the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams. 

In Bowl Season, the Sun Belt owns a .571 bowl winning percentage during the College Football Playoff era, trailing only the SEC (.578). 

BOWL SEASON SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Dec. 16
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, 9:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. CT – ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 17 
StaffDNA Cure Bowl, 5:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. CT – ESPN
68 Ventures Bowl, 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT – ESPN

Friday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl, 12:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. CT – ESPN

Tuesday, Dec. 23 
New Orleans Bowl, 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT – ESPN

For exclusive Sun Belt football content on game days and throughout the 2025 season, follow @SunBeltFB on X.

Follow the Sun Belt on social media via FacebookInstagram and X.   

Back to top button