The 2008 Independence Bowl[1] marked the thirty-third edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The game was contested starting on Sunday, December 28, 2008, with a 7:15 p.m. CST kickoff, telecast on ESPN.
[2] Both Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois were chosen because both of the contracted conferences – the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference – failed to produce enough bowl eligible teams as both had a pair of schools in the 2009 Bowl Championship Series.
Both participants were football-only members of the Big West Conference in the mid-1990s.
This was the 7th football game between Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois and the first since 1996.