Military Bowl The Military Bowl ( fully named Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman , previously known as the EagleBank Bowl and known in planning stages as the Congressional Bowl ) is an annual college football bowl game first played on December 20 , 2008 at Robert F . Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington , D . C . . The game was originally sponsored by Washington - area financial institution EagleBank . After Northrop Grumman , one of the world ' s leading defense contractor s , became its sponsor in 2010 , it was renamed the Military Bowl . The bowl game usually features a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference and either a team from Conference USA or one of the service academies . Origins . The idea for the EagleBank Bowl originated with the Washington , D . C . Bowl Committee , a group founded by Marie Rudolph and Sean Metcalf in December 2006 with the intended purpose of bringing a bowl game to the Washington , D . C . area as a boon to the region ' s economy . The D . C . Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Washington , D . C . Convention and Tourism Corporation announced their support of the proposed event in 2007 . History . The bowl game was one of two approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( the other being the St . Petersburg Bowl ) for the 2008 college football bowl season . The NCAA ' s Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee approved the bowl on April 30 , 2008 , allowing the committee that had proposed the game to host it after the 2008 college football season . The game , which was originally dubbed " The Congressional Bowl " before sponsorship was received by EagleBank , was televised by ESPN , with kickoff scheduled for 11 AM US EST , making it officially the first bowl game of the 2008 – 09 postseason . Terry Gannon and David Norrie announced the inaugural game . Prior to the game ' s approval by the NCAA , Navy and the Atlantic Coast Conference signed agreements to participate in the game if it was approved . Under the agreement , the ACC would provide its ninth - best team for the bowl if the league had nine bowl eligible ( records of 6 – 6 or better ) teams . The initial EagleBank Bowl game was a battle between Navy and Wake Forest University . The two teams had played earlier in the season and Navy was victorious 24 – 17 . In the bowl game rematch , however , Wake Forest won 29 – 19 . In 2009 along with its ACC tie - in , the Bowl signed an agreement with Army to play in the 2009 edition of the game if the Black Knights were bowl eligible . Army entered its final game with Navy requiring a win to gain bowl eligibility . However , since Navy defeated Army , Army missed out on bowl eligibility . The ACC did not have enough eligible teams and Conference USA could not provide a team , so the EagleBank Bowl chose Mid - American Conference team Temple to fill one spot and chose Pac - 10 conference team UCLA to fill the other slot as an at - large . UCLA defeated Temple 30 - 21 . For the 2010 edition of the game , the bowl announced that it had signed an agreement with Conference USA for it to provide a team to the bowl along with its current agreement with the ACC . The bowl game will have its standard eighth selection from ACC teams and will most likely have the sixth selection of C - USA teams . The bowl also announced that the NCAA had granted the EagleBank Bowl a four - year extension of its Bowl Certification taking it through the 2013 - 14 football bowl season . On October 26 , 2010 , the bowl was renamed the Military Bowl sponsored by Northrop Grumman . In 2010 the game generated in excess of $ 18 million for the Washington , D . C . area . Also , over $ 100 , 000 was donated to the USO . Future matchups . 2013 : ACC vs . Big 12