Rutgers, which had a 7-4 record going into tonight's game at Louisville, will play a team from the Mid-American Conference, most likely Ball State. The Cardinals earned a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division title with a 27-21 victory over Northern Illinois last Saturday.

The second International Bowl will be played on Jan. 5 at Toronto's Rogers Centre. Cincinnati won the inaugural game in January, defeating Western Michigan 27-24.

"We're thrilled to accept this invitation to play in the International Bowl and I know our team is excited about the opportunity to play in a bowl game for the third consecutive year," said Rutgers athletic director Robert E. Mulcahy III.

Last year, Rutgers won the first bowl game in the program's 137-year history, defeating Kansas State 37-10 in the Texas Bowl. The previous year the Scarlet Knights lost 45-40 to Arizona State in the Insight Bowl.

The program's only other appearance in a bowl game was in 1978.

Rutgers had high hopes entering this season after finishing 11-2 a year ago and missing a BCS berth only after a triple-overtime loss to West Virginia. But consecutive losses to Maryland and Cincinnati in October knocked the Scarlet Knights out of the Top 25.