Following an 8-5 season with one of the highest-ranked offenses in the nation, Louisiana Tech has accepted a bid to play in the 2016 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 23 at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The game will air nationally on ESPN as the Bulldogs face No. 25 Navy with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. CT.

Sunday's announcement marks the first time in school history Louisiana Tech will appear in three consecutive bowl games and it will be the Bulldogs' first appearance in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Both Louisiana Tech and Navy played in their respective conference championship games.

"We are thrilled to announce that the United States Naval Academy and Louisiana Tech University will be playing in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl this year," Ringler said. "Obviously, to have a service academy playing in the game for the eighth time in the past 10 years is outstanding, and to attract a team with such a strong regional presence is a real coup. This will be an exciting matchup and we are looking forward to welcoming fans of both schools to Fort Worth."

Louisiana Tech (8-5, 6-2 Conference USA) claimed the West Division of C-USA to earn a spot in the league title game against Western Kentucky, where the Bulldogs fell, 58-44, on Saturday. The Bulldogs had a seven-game winning streak during the year, which included a 55-52 victory over WKU.

LA Tech features a prolific offense that ranks third in the NCAA in passing yards (359.8), fifth in scoring offense (44.0) and eighth in total offense (516.1). Skip Holtz is in his fourth season at Louisiana Tech, where he owns a 30-22 (.577) record, and has led the Bulldogs to its third straight bowl game.

Louisiana Tech, which has wins at the 2014 Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl and the 2015 New Orleans Bowl, is 4-3-1 in bowl games all time. This will be the team's first-ever appearance at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

Navy (9-3, 7-1 American) reached as high as 19th in the College Football Playoff ranking. The Midshipmen earned a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship game Saturday, where the Mids dropped a 34-10 decision to Temple. The team's signature win came against then-No. 6 Houston, and the squad also defeated Notre Dame for just the fourth time since 1963.

In his ninth year directing the Midshipmen, American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Ken Niumatalolo is the program's all-time winningest coach with a 77-40 (.658) record. This season, the team ranks third nationally in rushing yards per game (327.5) and 18th in scoring offense (39.1).

Navy, making its 13th bowl appearance in the past 14 years, is 10-10-1 in 21 all-time bowl games. This will mark the Mids' second trip to the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. In 2013, Navy defeated Middle Tennesseee, 24-6.

This year's game will again be televised nationally on ESPN and also will be aired in both English and Spanish on the Armed Forces Bowl Radio Network.

The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl is the only collegiate football bowl game that has hosted all three U.S. Service Academy football teams. The U.S. Air Force Academy (2007-2009, 2012 and 2015), the U.S. Military Academy (2010) and the U.S. Naval Academy (2013) have all previously participated in the bowl.

The Fort Worth college bowl game has featured the "armed forces" theme since 2006. Patriotic overtones recognizing all five branches of the service are prevalent throughout the game. Past Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowls have included fan-fest adventure areas showcasing armed forces hardware; flyovers; demonstrations by several of the military's top skydiving teams; custom homes awarded to wounded warriors; on-field induction ceremonies; armed forces bands and honor guards; and the annual Great American Patriot Award presented by Armed Forces Insurance.

The bowl game also created and operates the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the Football Writers Association of America. For additional information about the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, please visit ArmedForcesBowl.com, Facebook.com/ArmedForcesBowl or Twitter.com/ArmedForcesBowl.

The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl is one of 13 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

TICKET INFORMATION

The LA Tech Ticket Office will be open today from 3-6 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Tickets are priced at $60 and will be available and assigned by LTAC membership priority. Tickets priced at $60 will be available to purchase online, or fans can contact the LA Tech Ticket Office at 318-257-3631. The LTAC priority deadline will be at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9.

Louisiana Tech students can purchase tickets beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 5 at the ticket office in the Thomas Assembly Center with the first 100 students receiving FREE tickets. The next 400 student tickets will be available to purchase for $20. LA Tech students must have a valid Louisiana Tech student ID to purchase tickets.

For the second consecutive year, the general public can thank armed forces members and their families by sponsoring tickets for military members to attend the game through the "Host a Hero" program. "Host a Hero" tickets, sold for $15 each, will be distributed to past and present service members and their families. These generous ticket sponsors will be recognized during the game.

Complete information on tickets, bowl events and the game can be found at Louisiana Tech's Bowl Central at LATechSports.com/bowl while tickets can be purchased at LATechSports.com/tickets.

For more information on the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, visit www.armedforcesbowl.com, or follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @ArmedForcesBowl.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please follow Louisiana Tech on social media at @LATechFB (Twitter), /LATechFootball (Facebook) and @LATechFB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.

ESPN Events

ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 13 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 250-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.

ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.

Collegiate Football

AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl (Houston); Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Camping World Kickoff (Orlando, Fla.); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu); Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Baton Rouge, La.); Montgomery Kickoff Classic (Montgomery, Ala.); Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); St. Petersburg Bowl (Florida); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta) and Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth)