The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs and the Northern Illinois Huskies have accepted invitations to play in the second annual San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, 2006 chairman Rudy Castruita announced today. The game will be played on Tuesday, December 19 at 5 p.m. (PST) at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game kicks off the 2006-07 bowl schedule and will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

“The entire Poinsettia Bowl family looks forward to welcoming the Horned Frogs, the Huskies and their loyal fans to San Diego next month,” said Castruita. “We have quite a match-up and fans should be ready to watch an exciting football game. Now that we have the teams we’re eager to kick off the festivities next month.”

"We are excited to receive the invitation to play in the Poinsettia Bowl," TCU football coach Gary Patterson said. "We look forward to going to San Diego. This is a great destination trip for our fans and alumni."

TCU has won seven games in a row to tie for the nation’s 8th-longest current win streak. Dating back to the 2005 season, the Horned Frogs have wins in 21 of their last 24 contests. This year’s TCU squad features a defense that’s ranked in the top-10 nationally in run defense, scoring defense and total defense. The Frogs, the alma mater of San Diego Chargers' running back LaDainian Tomlinson, are also among the Mountain West Conference leaders in several offensive categories.

The Horned Frogs appearance in the Poinsettia Bowl marks their 23rd bowl game and eighth in the last nine seasons. Most recently they defeated Iowa State 27-24 in the EV1.net Houston Bowl.

Northern Illinois finished their season 7-5, 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference.

“Who wouldn’t want to be in San Diego in December?” said NIU Head Coach Joe Novak. “It’s a great city with great weather, and it’s a great sports town. It’s going to be a special treat because a lot of our kids haven’t been there before and it will be something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. We’re thrilled that our team will be able to continue its season at the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.”

Northern Illinois is coming off its top two performances of the season, including a 31-10 victory over Mid-American Conference West Division Champion Central Michigan on Nov. 17. The Huskies feature the NCAA’s leading rusher, Garrett Wolfe, who enters the game with 1,900 rushing yards on the season and ranks 11 th all-time on the NCAA career rushing list.

The Huskies, the alma mater of San Diego Chargers’ running back Michael Turner, have posted seven straight winning seasons and will be playing in their second bowl game in the last three years. Each of NIU’s last two bowl appearances have come in California.

The 2005 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl featured a 51-30 Navy victory over Colorado State.