Head coach Jeff Brohm speaks to the crowd during a kickoff party at Buffalo Wild Wings in Louisville on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. (Austin Anthony/Daily News)

Last month, a bowl trip for the Western Kentucky football team seemed like a fairy tale.

The Hilltoppers were demolished 59-10 at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 1, were saddled with a 3-5 record and looked like anything but a team deserving of a postseason bid.

But WKU bounced back with four wins to close the regular season, including an improbable 67-66 overtime win at then-No. 19 Marshall on Nov. 28, arguably one of the Hilltoppers’ biggest wins in program history.

Western Kentucky’s resilience was officially rewarded Sunday when it accepted a bid to the Bahamas Bowl, where the Hilltoppers will play Central Michigan at 11 a.m. CST Dec. 24 in Nassau, Bahamas.

It’s a just prize for a program shunned by bowls last season, despite an 8-4 record and finishing tied for third in the Sun Belt Conference.

WKU’s departure from that league and into Conference USA is a key reason the Hilltoppers have a spot on the postseason stage. Only two Sun Belt teams earned bids last year and only three this year – and a 7-5 Texas State team is staying home. But thanks to Conference USA’s five primary bowl tie-ins, five C-USA teams will be playing in bowls this year.

Thanks to the jump to Conference USA, WKU officials didn’t have to do any politicking to try and land a bowl bid this time around. Seven wins guaranteed it a spot. 

Still, conference affiliation can take a program only so far. Credit WKU players and coaches for their strong finish to assure themselves of a bowl game.

Not only is the Bahamas Bowl a reward for the program, it serves as another building block for a program that’s still an infant in the Football Bowl Subdivision. It wasn’t too long ago that the Hilltoppers played home contests in a one-sided, antiquated stadium and competed for I-AA championships.

The bowl bid helps the Hilltoppers sell recruits on being part of a program on the rise that can play in the postseason. It also gives WKU football 15 extra practices that can serve as groundwork for next season. 

Added television exposure also helps. The Bahamas Bowl will be aired on ESPN and will give WKU another chance to showcase its high-flying offense that averaged 44 points a game and 525.3 yards a game – both ranking among the nation’s best. 

Congratulations to WKU, not only for earning a spot in the Bahamas Bowl, but for preparing a foundation for future success.