San Jose State coach Brent Brennan and Ball State coach Mike Neu have never coached against each other because they have primarily operated in two different regions of the country throughout their coaching careers.

They have achieved similar success, however, with programs that will take part in the Arizona Bowl on New Year's Eve at Tucson.

"I've been following him since he took over there," Brennan said of Neu, who was hired by Ball State, his alma mater, in 2016. "And there's a really similar path to ours. I think this is a really fascinating matchup, if you look to where he was in 2017 and '18. There's some real similarities there. What they've been able to do this year has been awesome."