Sponsored by restaurant franchise Tropical Smoothie Cafe, the game was officially known as the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl.
[8] The bowl matched the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference and Kent State Golden Flashes of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
[10] Utah State completed their regular season with a 7–5 record (6–2 in conference),[11] finishing in third place in the Mountain Division of Mountain West.
[11] Kent State finished their regular season at 6–6 (5–3 in conference), in a three-way tie for second place in the East Division of the MAC.
This was the fourth bowl game in school history, as the Golden Flashes were seeking their first-ever bowl win after losing the previous three.