YPSILANTI -- Eastern Michigan University's football team is headed to Montgomery, Alabama for its second bowl game in three seasons.
The Eagles (7-5, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) were selected Sunday to play in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on Dec. 15 against Georgia Southern (9-3) of the Sun Belt Conference. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN.
In 2016, EMU finished the regular season 7-5 before losing to Old Dominion in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, the program's first bowl game since 1987.
With 82 teams bowl eligible with six or more wins, four qualified teams will be left home. Some college football pundits projected EMU to be one of the four teams to be left out, but the Eagles' resume proved to be strong enough to earn a bid.
They defeated Purdue, the only team to beat No. 6 Ohio State this season, 20-19 on the road in Week 2. Their first four losses came by a combined 16 points against teams that finished with winning records.
EMU, one of seven bowl-eligible MAC teams, also played some of its best football late in the season, winning five of its final six games and to finish second in the MAC West Division.
The Eagles have been led by their defense, which allowed just one offensive touchdown in their past three games. They rank 32nd in FBS in scoring defense and fifth in passing defense, allowing just 160 yards through the air per game.
Georgia Southern, also the Eagles, are ninth in the country with 260.8 rushing yards per game.
It also ranks 25th in scoring defense at 21.6 points per game.
The team will be making its second FBS bowl appearance. It previously won six national championships in the Football Championships Division before moving to FBS in 2014.