ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The 2025 bowl season has been an unusual one, even before any of the games have been played.

Several teams rejected bowl invitations, which nearly left 6-6 Georgia Southern and the Birmingham Bowl hanging.

Sun Belt rivals Appalachian State finally accepted the Birmingham Bowl’s invitation, giving bowl season a rare intra-conference matchup.

Bowls are typically meant for teams from different conferences to meet in the postseason, but matchups between conference opponents are sometimes unavoidable.

Even rarer is the repeat matchup: Georgia Southern beat Appalachian State 25-23 earlier this season.

In a statement, the Sun Belt said, “Having App State and Georgia Southern play again was not our first choice, but enabled us to ensure the football players

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