Wisconsin’s first college football bowl game finishes its fourth year

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (WMDX) – For the fourth year, Wisconsin’s first college football bowl game was played.

The Culver’s Isthmus Bowl was held in Sun Prairie on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The annual game matches up the highest-ranking member of the WIAC and CCIW that does not advance to the NCAA Division 3 Tournament. This year, UW-Stout of the WIAC took on Wheaton College of the CCIW. It was the first-ever meeting for the teams and the first time that either had appeared in the bowl game.

After three years of the WIAC winning the match-up, Wheaton became the first CCIW program to take home the Isthmus Bowl trophy, winning 35-32 in an entertaining contest that featured a 28-0 lead being cut to 28-23 before Wheaton held on for the victory.

Wheaton, which finished 9-2, was the 13th-ranked team by NPI for at-large candidates to the NCAA Tournament. 12 teams make it in from Pool C, or the at-large field, meaning Wheaton was the first team left out of the playoffs.

Stout, which had a 6-5 record following the bowl game, had a shot to win the WIAC in the season’s final week, losing in a hard-fought game with WIAC champion UW-Platteville. Instead of gaining an NCAA Tournament auto-bid, the Blue Devils had to win a four-way tiebreaker in order to appear in the bowl game.

UW-River Falls defeated Washington University in the first two years of the game, while Platteville beat Augustana last year.

The game is played at Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium. It’s sponsored by Wisconsin-based fast food restaurant chain Culver’s. Craig Culver is the VIP guest of each year’s game and conducts the coin flip just before kickoff. Culver said that he enjoys college and high school football and that’s a big reason why he is excited to partner with the Isthmus Bowl.

“These guys, they play for the love of the game,” Culver said during an interview for the game’s video stream broadcast. “There’s something great about playing because you love doing it. There’s no scholarships here.”

Culver’s frequently sponsors youth sports programs, which is left up to the discretion of each franchise owner.

The annual Culver’s Isthmus Bowl game is played in Sun Prairie on the Saturday after the end of the Division 3 college football regular season. You can find out more information at isthmusbowl.com.

The Isthmus Bowl is the first college football bowl game in Wisconsin. Its partner bowl, the Cousin’s Subs Lakefront Bowl, completed its third season on Saturday as well. That game matches up teams from the MWC and NACC. St. Norbert College defeated Monmouth 20-14 in this year’s event.

---

Editor’s Note: Jimmie Kaska is the broadcaster for the Isthmus Bowl.