| Game Name: | Camellia Bowl |
| Game Link: | Camellia Bowl (2014–present) |
| Subheader: | 10th Camellia Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 23 |
| Year Game Played: | 2023 |
| Football Season: | 2023 |
| Stadium: | Cramton Bowl |
| City: | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Visitor School: | Arkansas State University |
| Visitor Name Short: | Arkansas State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Red Wolves |
| Visitor Record: | 6–6 |
| Visitor Conference: | Sun Belt |
| Visitor Coach: | Butch Jones |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 6 |
| Home School: | Northern Illinois University |
| Home Name Short: | Northern Illinois |
| Home Nickname: | Huskies |
| Home Record: | 6–6 |
| Home Conference: | MAC |
| Home Coach: | Thomas Hammock |
| Home 1Q: | 13 |
| Home 2Q: | 8 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | Rocky Lombardi (QB, Northern Illinois)[1] |
| Odds: | Arkansas State by 1.5[2] |
| Referee: | Kevin Randall (AAC)[3] |
| Attendance: | 11,310 |
| Us Network: | ESPN ESPN Radio |
| Us Announcers: | Courtney Lyle (play-by-play), Hutson Mason (analyst), and Ashley Stroehlein (sideline) (ESPN) Mike Couzens (play-by-play) and Aaron Murray (analyst) (ESPN Radio) |
| Intl Announcers: | ESPN Brazil: Conrado Giulietti (play-by-play) and Weinny Eirado (analyst) |
The 2023 Camellia Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 23, 2023, at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The 10th annual Camellia Bowl featured the Arkansas State Red Wolves from the Sun Belt Conference and the Northern Illinois Huskies from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The game began at approximately 11:00 a.m. CST and was aired on ESPN.[4] [5] The Camellia Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. Camellia is the state flower of Alabama.
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the bowl featured teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Sun Belt Conference.
This was the ninth meeting between Arkansas State and Northern Illinois; entering the game, the Huskies led the all-time series 7–1, with the Red Wolves' lone victory coming in 1995. This was the second time that Arkansas State and Northern Illinois played each other in a bowl game, following the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl which saw the Huskies defeat the Red Wolves by a score of 38–20.[6]
See main article: 2023 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team. Arkansas State entered the game with a 6–6 record (4–4 in the Sun Belt), tied for second in the Sun Belt's West Division.
The Red Wolves started their season with losses to Oklahoma and Memphis, losing by an aggregate score of 110–3.[7] They won their next three gams, and went on to become bowl eligible with a 77–31 rout against Texas State in their final home game of the season. This was the 11th bowl appearance in Arkansas State program history, and their third Camellia Bowl—they previously lost the 2017 edition and won the 2019 edition.
See main article: 2023 Northern Illinois Huskies football team. The Huskies entered the game with a 6–6 record (5–3 in the MAC), finishing second in their conference's West Division. After losing four of their first five games, the team recovered to win five of their final seven games.
This was Northern Illinois' first appearance in the Camellia Bowl.