Louisiana will stay close to home in New Orleans and wrap up its season in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the fourth consecutive year. The New Orleans Bowl is the only bowl game the Ragin’ Cajuns have ever played in at the FBS level, although they are 3-0 in the game. Nevada returns to the postseason after a one-year hiatus against another former Big West Conference school in Louisiana, but is searching for its first bowl victory in four seasons.

New Hampshire has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last two years, but one goal has proven elusive throughout its history – a trip to the FCS championship game. The top-seeded Wildcats look to avoid a semifinal loss to a Missouri Valley Football Conference foe for the second straight year Saturday when they host No. 5 seed Illinois State. New Hampshire extended its school-record home winning streak to 14 games last Friday, rallying three times before defeating No. 8 seed Chattanooga.

Utah State lost nine starters to season-ending injuries - three quarterbacks - en route to making its fourth consecutive bowl appearance for the first time in its history at the New Mexico Bowl against UTEP in Albuquerque. The Aggies go for their third straight bowl victory after beating Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in 2012 and Northern Illinois in last year’s Poinsettia Bowl.

Two schools that are former conference mates square off in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl when No. 25 Utah faces Colorado State. The contest will mark the 80th meeting between the schools (Utah leads 55-22-2) that resided together in both the Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences. The Rams are looking for a win to record the second 11-win campaign in school history, while the Utes are vying for their 11th win in their last 12 bowl games.

Western Michigan will take aim at the first bowl victory in program history when it meets Air Force in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. The Broncos are 0-5 all time in bowl games with three losses by five points or less, most recently 37-32 to Purdue at the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit in December 2011. Air Force, like Western Michigan, is seven wins better than it was last season.

The inaugural Camellia Bowl marks the first ever bowl appearance for South Alabama, which started its football program in 2009. The Jaguars will travel to nearby Montgomery, Ala., to face Bowling Green, the Mid-American Conference East Division champions, who lost 51-17 to Northern Illinois in the MAC title game. The Falcons are making their third straight bowl appearance and 12th overall.