2025 New Orleans Bowl
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| 2025 New Orleans Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 25th New Orleans Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 23, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Caesars Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Maverick McIvor (QB, Western Kentucky) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Western Kentucky by 2.5[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Christian Watson (Mountain West) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 16,693 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Courtney Lyle (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst), and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline) (ESPN) Matt Jones (play-by-play) and Myron Medcalf (analyst) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2025 New Orleans Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 23, 2025, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 25th annual New Orleans Bowl game, it began at approximately 4:30 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN.[2][3] The New Orleans Bowl was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season.
The 2025 New Orleans Bowl featured the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers from Conference USA and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles from the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky beat Southern Miss, 27–16.[4]
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured a team from Conference USA, Western Kentucky, and a team from the Sun Belt Conference, Southern Miss. This was the fifth meeting between programs; each prior meeting had been won by Western Kentucky.[5]
Western Kentucky began their season with five wins in their first six games, then won three of their next four games; their record stood at 8–2 at mid-November. The Hilltoppers suffered back-to-back losses in their final two regular-season games, and entered the New Orleans Bowl with an 8–4 record.[6]
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Southern Miss had two losses in their first four games, then won five games in a row to improve their record to 7–2 in early November. The Golden Eagles ended their regular season with three consecutive losses, and entered the New Orleans Bowl with a 7–5 record.[7]