The only college football bowl matchup in the New England region is perfectly suited for two Northeastern teams.
The Army Black Knights (6-5, 4-4 American) and UConn Huskies (9-3, Independent) won’t have to travel far this Bowl Season, as the two teams meet in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. The 2025 Fenway Bowl kicks off from Boston, MA on Friday, Dec. 26.
Advertisement
This matchup is the fourth-annual Fenway Bowl which originally planned to debut in 2020 but was sidetracked by COVID-19 for its first two seasons. Army is a first-time qualifier for the game, while UConn appeared in the bowl last season, handling North Carolina 27-14 to cap a 9-4 season. The Fenway Bowl, played at the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park, is a particularly unique bowl. Due to the unorthodox dimensions of the baseball stadium, both teams line up on the same sideline for this matchup.
Army, fresh off its winningest season in program history, started 2025 in unthinkable fashion. The Black Knights were subject to one of the most stunning upsets of 2025, dropping an overtime contest to Tarleton State. However, Army recovered exceptionally well from the stunner, defeating Kansas State in non-conference action and upending UTSA on Week 14 to clinch bowl eligibility for the second-straight season under longtime head coach Jeff Monken. The Black Knights’ regular season isn’t quite done yet, as they await the annual Army-Navy Game on Dec. 13 before battling UConn at Fenway.
Monken enters this matchup with a spectacular 5-1 bowl record — owning five of Army’s eight bowl wins in program history. The Black Knights won both of their last two bowls, taking down Missouri in the 2021 Armed Forces Bowl and flying past Louisiana Tech in the 2024 Independence Bowl.
UConn won nine games for the second-straight year, tying the program record since it joined the FBS. The Huskies were one of two teams, along with No. 1 Indiana, to finish undefeated in regulation this season, as all three of their losses occurred in overtime heartbreakers. The recent UConn football revival can be attributed to Jim Mora Jr., who took over a perennial cellar dweller and guided it to three bowl games in four years. However, Mora is off to Colorado State and offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis aims to sustain success as the interim head coach. Former Toledo head coach Jason Candle will take over the Huskies as the full-time head coach following the game. UConn searches for its second-straight bowl win and fifth in program history.
Advertisement
Interestingly enough, these programs recently traded places in the college football landscape. Army switched from independent status to the American Conference in 2024, while UConn transitioned from the American to independence in 2020.
The 2025 Fenway Bowl kicks off Friday, Dec. 27 from Fenway Park in Boston and will be televised on ESPN at 2:15 p.m. ET.
