The game featured the SMU Mustangs against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. It was the fifth all-time meeting between the schools, with Louisiana Tech having led the series 3–1. The Mustangs and Bulldogs played together in the Western Athletic Conference from 2001 until 2004, when SMU joined Conference USA. Coincidentally, Conference USA is the conference that Louisiana Tech would join in the same season that SMU joined The American.[5]
SMU Mustangs
This was the sixteenth bowl game in school history for SMU, and the Mustangs' seventh to be played in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
This was the tenth bowl game in school history for Louisiana Tech, and their fourth consecutive (all wins). It was the Bulldogs' third bowl game to be played in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
^"Smith, Robertson named MVPS in LA Tech's Frisco bowl victory - ESPN Video". December 28, 2017. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
^"2017-18 bowl game attendance and schedule". Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
^"Bowl payout". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
^"SMU and Louisiana Tech Selected to Play in Inaugural 2017 DXL Frisco Bowl". DXLFriscoBowl.com. December 3, 2017. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
^"SMU Mustangs vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs series history". Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
Further reading
"2017 DXL Frisco Bowl Game Notes". dxlfriscobowl.com. December 21, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2018.