The 2008 Motor City Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association bowl game in which the Florida Atlantic Owls defeated the Central Michigan Chippewas 24–21. It was played on December 26, 2008 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan and aired on ESPN. The underdog FAU team from the Sun Belt Conference was led by game Most Valuable Player Rusty Smith. CMU had finished in third place in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.

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2008 Motor City Bowl
Florida Atlantic Owls Central Michigan Chippewas (6–6) (8–4) Sun Belt MAC 24 21 Head coach:  Howard Schnellenberger Head coach:  Butch Jones
1 2 3 4 Total Florida Atlantic 7 3 7 7 24 Central Michigan 0 10 3 8 21
Date	December 26, 2008
Season	2008
Stadium	Ford Field
Location	Detroit, Michigan
MVP	QB Rusty Smith, FAU
Favorite	CMU by 7
Referee	Tom Walker (Big 12)
Attendance	41,399
Payout	US$750,000[1]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Todd Harris, Ray Bentley
Nielsen ratings	2.1
Motor City Bowl  < 2007  2009 >

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The game was the 12th installment of the Motor City Bowl and was attended by 41,399 people, the fourth-lowest all time for the Motor City Bowl.^{[citation needed]}