MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. –– The Tulsa Golden Hurricane, representing the American Athletic Conference, will face the Old Dominion Monarchs of Conference USA in the 2021 Myrtle Beach Bowl in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, it was announced today. The game will be played at Coastal Carolina's Brooks Stadium on Monday, December 20, at 2:30 p.m. (ET) / 1:30 p.m. (CT).
This is just the second year of the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Last year's inaugural game was won by Appalachian State, a 56-28 winner over North Texas.
The Myrtle Beach Bowl appearance is the 23rd bowl game in school history for Tulsa and is the 12th bowl appearance in the last 19 years for the Hurricane. Head Coach Philip Montgomery takes his fourth team into a bowl game in his seven seasons, including the 2015 Independence Bowl, 2016 Miami Beach Bowl and the 2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
This is the first meeting on the gridiron between Tulsa and Old Dominion. The Myrtle Beach Bowl is just the second bowl game in the short history of the Old Dominion football program.
Tulsa has fielded a football team since 1895, while ODU began its football program as an FCS program in 2009. The Monarchs transitioned to the FBS in 2013, entered Conference USA in 2014, and made the schools only other FBS bowl game appearance in the 2016 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, defeating Eastern Michigan by a 24-20 score.
"We're excited for the opportunity to continue our season at the Myrtle Beach Bowl against a very good Old Dominion football team. We look forward to representing our University, the city of Tulsa and the American Athletic Conference in Myrtle Beach," said Montgomery.
"Old Dominion has done such an outstanding job in building a solid foundation for its football program in such a short time since adding the sport and moving to the FBS level," Montgomery added. "It should be a tremendous matchup between two teams that finished our regular seasons extremely strong."
Tulsa goes into the Myrtle Beach Bowl with an overall 6-6 record. The Hurricane is on a three-game winning streak, defeating Tulane, Temple and SMU, winning two of those games on the road. Old Dominion also comes into the contest with a 6-6 record and are on a current five-game winning streak.
The contest features a Tulsa team that averages 436.3 total offensive yards to rank second in the American Athletic Conference, while defensively the Hurricane has held the opposition to 381 yards, ranking fifth in The American.
The Monarchs, coached by Ricky Rahne (pronounced Ronnie), finished the season in third place in the C-USA East Division with a 5-3 record. ODU has averaged 28.5 points and 385 yards pr game, while the Monarchs defense has allowed just 28 points and 372 yards per game.
The game will be televised on ESPN.
BOWL GAME TICKETS/TRAVEL PACKAGES
Tickets can only be purchased directly from the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Tickets in the Tulsa block start at $30 and are located on the east side of the stadium and can be purchased HERE or go to TulsaHurricane.com/BowlTickets.
