By Staff
 By ECU Sports Information/AP
WASHINGTON, D.C. – East Carolina will play Maryland in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman at RFK Stadium on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 2:30 p.m. (ET), according to a joint announcement by bowl officials and the Atlantic Coast Conference Sunday.
The Pirates (6-6, 5-3 Conference USA) will be making an unprecedented fifth-straight bowl appearance, their seventh since 2000 and 17th overall in program history when they visit Washington.
ECU returned to bowl play in 2006 for the first time in five years with invitations to the Papajohns.com Bowl and Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (2007) before earning consecutive AutoZone Liberty Bowl berths as C-USA champions in 2008 and 2009.
The Terrapins (8-4, 5-3 ACC), who finished in a second-place tie with North Carolina State in the league’s Atlantic Division, return to bowl action after a one-year absence.
UM posted victories in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl (Purdue) and 2008 Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl (Nevada), but suffered a setback to Oregon State in the 2007 Emerald Bowl. The Terps also made bowl appearances in 2001, 2002 and 2003 under 10th-year head coach Ralph Friedgen.
Although the Pirates and Terps have never faced off on the gridiron, East Carolina will try to make it two wins in a row against ACC members after handing North Carolina State a 33-27 overtime setback Oct. 16. In all, ECU has battled 13 ACC opponents over the last five seasons with series against Virginia Tech (1-3), Virginia (1-1), North Carolina (1-2) and the Wolfpack (2-2).
“We are looking forward to the challenge of playing Maryland, a tradition-rich program out of a conference which has our highest respect,” first-year ECU Head Coach Ruffin McNeill said. “Coach Friedgen’s record and accomplishments speak for themselves, and because of that, I know we’ll be facing a quality, disciplined and very well-coached opponent. We are excited to have another opportunity to accomplish something special for this senior class, especially against a team the caliber of Maryland.”
Tickets in the Pirates’ section for the Military Bowl are available by calling the ECU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) DIAL-ECU or going online at www.ECUPirates.com. Pirate Club priority will apply for all tickets ordered by Tuesday, December 7. After that time, tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, Pirate fans unable to attend the game are asked to purchase tickets to be donated to local and regional military bases. For more information or to donate, fans can call the athletics ticket office or visit East Carolina’s official athletics website.
Maryland not happy about Military Bowl invitation
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Maryland will be able to take the subway to its bowl game, and the Terrapins aren’t happy about it.
Athletic director Kevin Anderson said Sunday he’s ‘‘disappointed with the process’’ that is sending Maryland to the Military Bowl in Washington, D.C. The Terrapins will face East Carolina at RFK Stadium on Dec. 29.
Maryland had to settle for the short trip despite an 8-4 record and a 5-3 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Military Bowl was slated to get the No. 8 selection from the ACC, and Anderson says he’ll speak to conference representatives to get ‘‘a better understanding’’ of what happened.
East Carolina from Conference USA finished 6-6 and accepted its invitation last week. This will be the first meeting between the schools.