The 19th edition of the Dollar General Bowl featured the Sun Belt Conference co-champion Appalachian State Mountaineers against the Mid-American Conference champion Toledo Rockets.
[3] The game was sponsored by the Dollar General chain of variety stores.
The game featured the Appalachian State Mountaineers against the Toledo Rockets.
It was the second all-time meeting between the schools; the first was the 2016 Camellia Bowl which saw the Mountaineers defeat the Rockets by a score of 31–28.
This was the Rockets' third Dollar General Bowl; their record in prior games was 2–0, having previously defeated the UTEP Miners 45–13 in the 2005 game (when it was known as the GMAC Bowl) and having subsequently defeated the Arkansas State Red Wolves 63–44 in the January 2015 game (when it was known as the GoDaddy Bowl).