| Game Name: | Frisco Football Classic |
| Subheader: | 1st Frisco Football Classic |
| Date Game Played: | December 23 |
| Year Game Played: | 2021 |
| Football Season: | 2021 |
| Stadium: | Toyota Stadium |
| City: | Frisco, Texas |
| Visitor School: | University of North Texas |
| Visitor Name Short: | North Texas |
| Visitor Nickname: | Mean Green |
| Visitor Record: | 6–6 |
| Visitor Conference: | C–USA |
| Visitor Coach: | Seth Littrell |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home School: | Miami University |
| Home Name Short: | Miami |
| Home Nickname: | RedHawks |
| Home Record: | 6–6 |
| Home Conference: | MAC |
| Home Coach: | Chuck Martin |
| Home 1Q: | 10 |
| Home 2Q: | 10 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | Brett Gabbert (QB, Miami) & Jacquez Warren (DB, Miami)[1] |
| Odds: | Miami by 3.5 |
| Referee: | Marshall Lewis (Sun Belt) [2] |
| Attendance: | 11,721 |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst), and Tiffany Blackmon (sideline) |
| Intl Network: | ESPN Brazil |
| Intl Announcers: | Matheus Suman (play-by-play) and Antony Curti (analyst) |
| First Game Ever Played: | y |
| Last Game Ever Played: | y |
| Game Link: | 2021–22 NCAA football bowl games#Non CFP bowl games |
The 2021 Frisco Football Classic was a college football bowl game played on December 23, 2021, in Frisco, Texas,[3] with kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT local time), televised on ESPN.[4] It was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season.
The NCAA approved the bowl game in order to accommodate all 83 bowl-eligible teams; otherwise, one bowl-eligible team would not have been selected for a bowl game. The added bowl game essentially served as a replacement for the canceled San Francisco Bowl.[5]
The game features teams from the Group of Five conferences.[6] This was the first time that North Texas and Miami University ever played each other.[7]
See main article: 2021 North Texas Mean Green football team. North Texas, from Conference USA (C–USA), finished the regular season 6–6, 5–3 in conference play. The Mean Green won their season opener against Northwestern State, 44–14, but then lost the next six games, dropping to 1–6. North Texas then went on to win its next five games, including upset victories over UTEP and a 45–23 victory over then-undefeated #22 UTSA in the regular season finale, handing UTSA its first loss of the season.
See main article: 2021 Miami RedHawks football team. Miami, from the Mid-American Conference (MAC), finished the regular season 6–6, 5–3 in conference play. In the team's regular season finale, the RedHawks had a chance to play in the MAC Championship Game by defeating Kent State. Miami trailed 31–41 with 11:17 left in regulation, coming back to tie the game 41–41 to send it to overtime. Kent State went on offense first, scoring a touchdown and making the point after attempt. The RedHawks would score a touchdown and attempted a two-point conversion pass, but the pass was incomplete. Miami lost 47–48, sending Kent State to the conference championship game.