While the bowl had tie-ins with the
Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the
Big Ten Conference, the actual participants were from the MAC and
Mountain West Conference (MWC). This was the first time that Western Michigan and Nevada ever played each other.
Western Michigan Broncos Western Michigan finished its regular season with a 7–5 record (4–4 in MAC games). The Broncos won four of their first five games, then lost four of their final six. The team was 1-1 in games against ranked opponents, with a loss to #2
Michigan, and a shocking win over #12
Pitt. Nevada Wolf Pack Nevada finished their regular season with an 8–4 record (5–3 in Mountain West games). The Wolf Pack played to a 5–1 record in their first six games, then went 3–3 in their final six games. The team played one ranked opponent, losing by two points to
San Diego State in mid-November. Following the regular season, head coach
Jay Norvell, offensive coordinator
Matt Mumme, and multiple other coaches left the
Nevada program to take jobs at
Colorado State. The team was coached by running backs/interim head coach
Vai Taua. Starting quarterback
Carson Strong, who won back-to-back
Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2020 and 2021, opted out of the game in order to prepare for the
2022 NFL draft. Multiple other athletes, including starting wide receivers
Tory Horton and Melquan Stovall, transferred to Colorado State to remain with Norvell and did not play in the game. ==Game summary==