The 2000 Motor City Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association bowl game in which the Marshall Thundering Herd of the MAC defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Conference USA 25–14.
The Bearcats were C-USA runners-up fresh off the wins from five of their last six games, which included Syracuse and #20 Southern Mississippi.
Cincinnati kicker Jonathan Ruffin was an All-America and had won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best placekicker.
This year marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic 1970 plane crash which took the lives of 75 Marshall football players, coaches, administrators, and boosters on November 14.
Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich was named the game's MVP.