The 21st annual Armed Forces Bowl featured the Air Force Falcons of the Mountain West Conference and the James Madison Dukes of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Dukes entered the game ranked 24th in the AP poll with an 11–1 record (7–1 in Sun Belt games), having finished atop their conference's East Division.
Because this was the final year of a two-year transition from the Football Championship Subdivision, James Madison was not originally bowl-eligible,[6] with waiver requests denied by the NCAA in August[7] and November.
[8] However, because of an insufficient number of bowl-eligible teams available to fill all bowl games, the Dukes were ultimately granted a berth.
They started their season with eight consecutive wins, culminating with a win over Colorado State, which was ranked 19th in the AP poll, but then lost their final four games of the regular season.