ATLANTA -- Making its third bowl appearance in the last five years, Georgia State (7-5, 4-4 Sun Belt) will play in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31 in Tucson, Ariz., against Mountain West Conference foe Wyoming (7-5, 4-4 MWC).

The game at Arizona Stadium will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. MT) and will air on CBS Sports Network as well as the Georgia State Radio Network.

Tickets for the bowl game will go on sale tonight at GeorgiaStateSports.com/Tix. 

"We are thrilled to be playing in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl against a quality opponent in Wyoming," said head coach Shawn Elliott, who has led the Panthers to two bowl games in his three seasons. "This will be a unique experience for our football players and one that we are looking forward to.

"Most of all, we are excited about playing another game with this team," Elliott continued. "We have a great group of young men who have overcome a lot to put together a very successful season. We've accomplished a lot of firsts and records this season, and this is not only a reward, but an opportunity to do even more."

The Panthers played in their first bowl game in 2015 in the AutoNation Cure Bowl and then made a return trip to the Orlando, Fla., bowl in 2017, when GSU knocked off Western Kentucky 27-17 for the first bowl win in school history.

"For Georgia State to be in our 10th year and playing in our third bowl game is just amazing," Elliott said. "It's a testament to all the great people associated with this university - our administration, our students and fans, our athletic department and especially our players."

Led by a prolific offense, this year's Georgia State squad has authored one of the nation's biggest turnarounds with a five-game improvement over last season. Only Navy and Central Michigan have improved more.

The Panthers have already matched their school-record for victories with seven, including a program-best 5-1 mark at home.

Leading the way is senior quarterback Dan Ellington, who has accounted for 26 touchdowns passing and rushing, and the Sun Belt Conference's leading rusher in senior Tra Barnett, who has rushed for a school-record 1,389 yards and 12 touchdowns behind a strong offensive line anchored by senior left tackle Hunter Atkinson.

Barnett ranks ninth in FBS in rushing (115.8 yards per game), and as a team, Georgia State is No. 14 in FBS with 245.2 rushing yards per game. The Panthers average nearly 450 yards of total offense and 33 points per game.

MORE ON THE PANTHERS:

> Playing just its 10th season of football and sixth at the FBS level, Georgia State is in a bowl game for the third time since 2015. Forty-five current FBS programs cannot make that claim, including 17 schools from Power 5 conferences.

> In 23 seasons as a Division I coach, Shawn Elliott has been part of 21 winning seasons and 18 teams that reached a bowl game or the NCAA playoffs.

> Ten Panthers were named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team, led by RB Tra Barnett and LT Hunter Atkinson on the first team. QB Dan Ellington and TE Aubry Payne made the second team, while LG Shamarious Gilmore and WR Cornelius McCoy were tabbed to the third team. Center Malik Sumter, TE Roger Carter, and defensive linemen Dontae Wilson and Hardrick Willis earned honorable mention recognition.

> Barnett is Georgia State's career leader in rushing yards (2,092)—the first Panther to top 2,000 career yards—and rushing touchdowns (19). With a school-record 242 yards rushing and two touchdowns vs. Troy, he broke the GSU records for rushing yards in a game, season and career in the same game.

> Ellington has passed for 2,291 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing 65 percent of his passes, and he is the team's second-leading rusher with 598 yards and five scores.