Louisiana Tech is heading back to Shreveport as the Bulldogs will play Coastal Carolina in the 49th edition of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Missy Setters is the executive director of the Independence Bowl on what the game means for northwest Louisiana.
“3.5 hours on ESPN, $30 million in economic impact that directly benefits our community. Hotel rooms in what is typically a downtime, during December,” Setters noted.
Tech played in the Independence Bowl last year and lost to Army. It’s the seventh time the Bulldogs have played in the Indy Bowl. It’s the first time for Coastal Carolina.
The game will kick-off at 1 PM on December 30th and Setters says there are several fan and community events the night before.
“So we’ll have the Rally on the Red, which is the mini-Mardi Gras parade and then followed by our Battle of the Bands, our fireworks show, and fantastic fireworks show by the way, and then free concert with Parish County line in Hurricane Alley,” Setters said.
The Independence Bowl has been around for 50 years, but because of its placement among the bowl game structure, they usually get teams that either have a .500 record or barely have a winning record. Setters says she sees the complaints on social media, but she would rather focus on the positive.
“I want the positives to drown out the voices and the negatives and understand that this is something good for our community. It’s about quality of life. And we do have so much positive that’s going on here. We need to focus on those things and stop getting bogged down, and just complaining all the time,” Setters said.
