The 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the 16th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game that was held on December 26, 2012 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan as part of the 2012–13 NCAA football bowl season.

The game was telecasted at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN. It featured the WKU Hilltoppers from the Sun Belt Conference against the Central Michigan Chippewas from the Mid-American Conference and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Hilltoppers accepted their invitation after finishing 7–5 during their regular season, while the Chippewas accepted theirs after finishing 6–6. Central Michigan won the game by a score of 24-21 over Western Kentucky.

Under normal circumstances, the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl would feature the eighth bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Conference against the Mid-American Conference champions. However, with the Big Ten only fielding seven bowl-eligible teams and the MAC champion Northern Illinois Huskies playing in the 2013 Orange Bowl, the spots were open this year.

This was the first meeting between these two teams.

The Chippewas finished in fourth place in the MAC's West Division, also finishing with a 4–4 conference record. After claiming a 6–6 mark in the regular season, the Chippewas accepted an invite to the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

...
Wikipedia