| Year Game Played: | 2007 |
| Game Name: | International Bowl |
| Subheader: | Inaugural Bowl Game |
| Football Season: | 2006 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Western Michigan |
| Visitor Nickname: | Broncos |
| Visitor School: | Western Michigan University |
| Home Name Short: | Cincinnati |
| Home Nickname: | Bearcats |
| Home School: | University of Cincinnati |
| Visitor Record: | 8–5 |
| Home Record: | 8–5 |
| Visitor Coach: | Bill Cubit |
| Home Coach: | Brian Kelly |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 17 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Home 1Q: | 14 |
| Home 2Q: | 10 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 3 |
| Date Game Played: | January 6 |
| Stadium: | Rogers Centre |
| City: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Mvp: | Cincinnati WR Dominick Goodman |
| Referee: | Dan Capron (Big Ten) |
| Attendance: | 26,717 |
| Us Network: | ESPN2 |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | John Saunders (Play by Play) Doug Flutie (Analyst) Craig James (Analyst) Todd Harris (Sideline) |
| Intl Network Link: | Bowl Championship Series on television and radio |
| Intl Network: | TSN (Canada) |
| First Game Ever Played: | yes |
The 2007 International Bowl, held on January 6, 2007 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was one of the college American football bowl games that ended the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game pitted the University of Cincinnati against Western Michigan University.
It was historically notable for several reasons:
Besides the historic significance of the game itself, the UC–WMU matchup was of particular interest because newly hired Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly coached Central Michigan University during the 2006 regular season. Kelly and Central Michigan, the main rival of WMU, defeated Western Michigan 31–7 just eight weeks earlier. In addition, both schools had been charter members of the Mid-American Conference (WMU is still in the conference today, but UC left after the 1952–53 academic year).
The game drew a crowd of 26,717. In this game, Cincinnati jumped out to a 24–0 lead with 10:22 left in the first half, but Western Michigan was able to score 24 unanswered points to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats defeated the Broncos 27–24 with WMU missing a late 51-yard field goal that could have sent the game into overtime.[1] [2]
The on-air ESPN crew included John Saunders, who was born and raised in Toronto and graduated from WMU; and Doug Flutie, who played two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, both of which ended in Grey Cup championships.