50 Fun Facts About College Football Bowl Games

After a 49–0 rout in the first Rose Bowl game in 1902, which event replaced football at the Tournament of Roses?

Chariot races, along with ostrich races, filled the bill for the next 13 years because the first game had been so lopsided. Football did not return to stay until New Year's Day 1916.

After Pearl Harbor, the 1942 Rose Bowl between Duke and Oregon State was moved from California to which city?

Durham stepped in because officials feared a Japanese attack on the West Coast, and Duke offered its own home stadium. Oregon State made the cross-country train trip and won 20–16.

Which Ohio State coach was fired the day after punching a Clemson player during the 1978 Gator Bowl?

Woody Hayes struck Charlie Bauman, who had just intercepted a pass and been pushed out of bounds at the Ohio State bench with two minutes left. The punch ended his 28 seasons in charge.

Which snack brand's Orlando bowl game introduced the first edible mascot in 2023, eaten by players on the field?

Pop-Tarts Bowl organizers lowered a giant strawberry pastry mascot into an oversized toaster, and an edible replica came out for the players to eat. A fan vote chose the lead mascot's flavor for the next game.

Which Ivy League university's stadium inspired the Rose Bowl's design and gave postseason games the word bowl?

Yale opened its bowl-shaped stadium in 1914, and it became the prototype for many American football stadiums. The Rose Bowl stadium borrowed both the shape and the name a few years later.

In the 1929 Rose Bowl, what did California center Roy Riegels famously do after scooping up a Georgia Tech fumble?

Riegels ran the wrong way until teammate Benny Lom caught up with him near his own goal line. The punt that followed was blocked for a safety, the margin in an 8–7 defeat.

Which Notre Dame quarterback ate chicken soup in the locker room, then erased a 34–12 deficit in the 1979 Cotton Bowl?

Joe Montana was fighting the flu and hypothermia on an icy day, so team doctors warmed him with bouillon and blankets. He returned to beat Houston 35–34 with a touchdown as time expired.

Which late-night talk show host put his own name on the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium in 2021?

Jimmy Kimmel announced the deal on his own show, remarking that it was the first bowl game named for a living person. Former NFL star Rob Gronkowski took over as the bowl's host in 2023.

The Pinstripe Bowl, first played in 2010, takes place each winter in which Major League Baseball ballpark?

Yankee Stadium in the Bronx gave New York City its first bowl game since the 1962 Gotham Bowl. That earlier game was played in the original venue of the same name.

The Rose Bowl game moves to January 2 whenever New Year's Day falls on which day of the week?

Sunday has been off limits since 1893, when parade organizers did not want to disturb horses hitched outside church services. The football game follows the parade to the next day.

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is played at Boise State's stadium on artificial turf of which unusual color?

Blue turf went down in 1986 because the athletic director reasoned that a new surface might as well earn the school some national notoriety. Fans nicknamed it Smurf Turf.

Which fruit's name was dropped from a New Year's Six bowl from 2006 to 2013, when it was simply the Chick-fil-A Bowl?

Peach had been in the title since the first game in 1968, which was created as a fundraiser for a Lions Clubs foundation serving blind people in Georgia.

After Hurricane Katrina damaged the Superdome, which city hosted the January 2006 Sugar Bowl instead?

Atlanta gave Georgia what amounted to a home game in the Georgia Dome, yet West Virginia stunned the Bulldogs by opening a 21–0 lead in the first quarter.

Which Texas city has hosted the Sun Bowl since 1935, making it one of the oldest bowl games after the Rose Bowl?

El Paso matched two high school teams in its first game, and colleges only took over a year later. The Sugar and Orange bowls also date from 1935, so the three share second place by age.

The Cotton Bowl Classic left its namesake Fair Park stadium in 2010 for the home of which NFL team?

The Dallas Cowboys' new retractable-roof stadium in Arlington lured the game away as part of a bid by bowl officials to join the BCS. The old stadium had been its home since 1937.

Which island capital became home to the Bahamas Bowl in 2014 at the 15,000-seat Thomas Robinson Stadium?

Nassau staged the first major bowl played outside the United States and Canada by two American teams since New Year's Day 1937.

The Liberty Bowl, a Memphis fixture since 1965, was founded in 1959 in which northeastern city?

Philadelphia hosted the first five games before the bowl spent one year indoors at a convention hall on the New Jersey shore. It then moved south to much larger crowds.

Which Florida city is home to the Gator Bowl, traditionally played around New Year's Day and first held in 1946?

Jacksonville gave the game up only once, in December 1994, when it moved to Gainesville while a replacement stadium was being built. Four local backers put up $10,000 to underwrite the first one.

Which foreign capital hosted the Bacardi Bowl, where Auburn and Villanova tied 7–7 on New Year's Day 1937?

Havana staged the game seven times, beginning in 1907 with LSU against the local university. The 1937 tie was the first bowl appearance in Auburn's history.

Orlando's Citrus Bowl was known by which other fruit's name from its first game in 1947 until 1982?

Tangerine gave way in 1983 after the Florida Citrus Commission paid $1.25 million for a new name. In its early years the game matched small-college teams instead of major powers.

Which Nebraska coach went for two and the win, not a tying kick, against Miami in the 1984 Orange Bowl?

Tom Osborne passed up a kick that would have tied the score at 31, and Miami's Kenny Calhoun broke up the pass. The Hurricanes, heavy underdogs on their own field, won 31–30.

What did Miami's players change into on the flight to the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, a showdown billed as good versus evil?

Military fatigues played up the warfare theme, with Miami cast as the villains. Penn State then intercepted Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde five times to take the national title.

Which school's Dicky Maegle was tackled by an Alabama player who ran off the bench in the 1954 Cotton Bowl?

Rice was awarded a 95-yard touchdown anyway, with its runner flat on his back at the 42-yard line. The referee ruled the tackle a palpably unfair act.

Which BYU quarterback threw a Hail Mary on the final play to beat SMU 46–45 in the 1980 Holiday Bowl?

Jim McMahon rallied BYU from 45–25 down with four minutes left, and the extra point after his last-second heave won it. Fans still call the game the Miracle Bowl.

Which Heisman-winning Navy quarterback lost a No. 1 against No. 2 showdown with Texas in the 1964 Cotton Bowl?

Roger Staubach completed 22 of 34 passes, but Texas won 28–6 to claim its first national title. He was still a junior, having won the Heisman only weeks earlier.

Which famous Notre Dame backfield played together in the 1925 Rose Bowl win over Pop Warner's Stanford team?

The Four Horsemen had been given their name less than three months earlier, in a newspaper report on a 13–7 win over Army. Knute Rockne coached them against Stanford.

From 1947, the Rose Bowl traditionally matched the West Coast's champion against the champion of which conference?

The Big Ten, then known as the Big Nine, signed an exclusive deal in 1946 after eight years of negotiating over payments, rules and tickets. The pairing lasted, with exceptions, until 2023.

Which team, coached by Fielding Yost, beat Stanford 49–0 in 1902 in the game later counted as the first Rose Bowl?

Michigan finished that season having outscored its opponents 550–0. Stanford's captain asked to end the game with eight minutes still on the clock.

Which Alabama quarterback was named outstanding player of the 1965 Orange Bowl despite losing to Texas?

Joe Namath threw for 255 yards in the first Orange Bowl played at night, then signed a record contract with the New York Jets the following day.

Which Alabama coach won his final game at the 1982 Liberty Bowl, four weeks before his death?

Bear Bryant retired with 323 victories after beating Illinois 21–15. His farewell made the game one of the most heavily covered of that season.

Which coach led a single school to 37 bowl games while in charge from 1966 to 2011?

Joe Paterno won 24 of those games with Penn State and turned down offers from NFL teams, including the New England Patriots, to stay in college football.

Which ABC broadcaster coined the Rose Bowl nickname The Granddaddy of Them All and called his last game there in 2006?

Keith Jackson signed off with Texas against USC, then retired that April, saying he did not want to die in a stadium parking lot.

The 1995 Las Vegas Bowl between Toledo and Nevada was the first major-college football game to use which rule?

Overtime had been adopted starting with that bowl season, and Toledo's 40–37 win capped an unbeaten year. Before then, a game level after four quarters simply stayed that way.

Which citrus growers' brand made the Fiesta Bowl the first bowl game with a corporate title sponsor in 1986?

Sunkist signed on in September 1985, opening the door for names such as Tostitos and PlayStation to follow on the same game in later decades.

Which Shreveport postseason game was named for garden-tool maker Poulan Weed-Eater from 1990 through 1997?

The Independence Bowl sponsorship was so unusual that Weedeater Bowl became shorthand for a consolation game after a disappointing season.

Which Heisman-winning Oregon quarterback lost the first College Football Playoff title game in January 2015?

Marcus Mariota threw a touchdown pass on the opening drive, but Ohio State won 42–20 behind four Ezekiel Elliott touchdown runs.

Which New Orleans university won the first Sugar Bowl in 1935, a game played on its own home field?

Tulane trailed unbeaten Temple 14–0 before winning 20–14, helped by a lateral on a kickoff return that went 75 yards for a touchdown.

Which Oklahoma State Heisman winner ran for 222 yards and five touchdowns in the 1988 Holiday Bowl?

Barry Sanders broke scoring runs of 33 and 67 yards among his five, and Oklahoma State beat Wyoming 62–14.

Which LSU quarterback threw seven touchdown passes before halftime of a 2019 playoff semifinal against Oklahoma?

Joe Burrow tied NCAA records for touchdown passes in a half and in a bowl game, and LSU won 63–28, the first time a playoff team had topped 60 points.

Which Florida quarterback closed his college career with 533 total yards against Cincinnati in the 2010 Sugar Bowl?

Tim Tebow completed his first 12 passes and had Florida 30–3 ahead by halftime of a 51–24 win. His 482 passing yards set a Sugar Bowl record.

Which Alabama freshman came off the bench at halftime to beat Georgia for the January 2018 national title?

Tua Tagovailoa erased a 13–0 deficit, then answered a 16-yard sack with a 41-yard touchdown pass on a play fans still call 2nd and 26.

The Rose Bowl stadium, a National Historic Landmark opened in 1922, stands in which California city?

Pasadena owns the stadium, whose first game was not a bowl at all but a regular-season meeting between California and USC in October 1922.

The Senior Bowl, an all-star showcase for NFL draft prospects, has been played since 1951 in which Alabama city?

Mobile took over after a single opening edition in Florida in 1950, and organizers later registered a slogan saying the draft starts there.

Which Canadian city hosted the International Bowl from 2007 through 2010 inside the Rogers Centre?

Toronto first bid for a bowl game in 2004, hoping to win back tourism dollars lost to the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Honolulu's Hawaii Bowl, first played in 2002, is typically held on or near which date on the holiday calendar?

Christmas Eve became the slot because ESPN's NBA deal filled the following day, the date the first two editions had inherited from the old Aloha Bowl.

Bobby Grier, who in 1956 integrated the Sugar Bowl despite a governor's protest, played for which university?

Pittsburgh refused to play without him and insisted he would travel, eat and live with the team. It became the first integrated bowl game in the Deep South.

Which Texas A&M tradition began at the 1922 Dixie Classic when E. King Gill left the press box to suit up?

The 12th Man was never needed: Gill stood ready in an injured teammate's uniform through the second half as A&M upset unbeaten Centre College 22–14.

Which Pennsylvania school shut out the host Miami Hurricanes 26–0 in the first Orange Bowl on New Year's Day 1935?

Bucknell gained 278 yards and earned its sixth shutout of that season.

Which Ivy League team stunned Stanford 7–0 in the rain-soaked 1934 Rose Bowl with a trick play called KF-79?

Columbia arrived by train from New York to find the field looking like a lake after days of torrential rain. Its lone touchdown produced one of the biggest upsets in Rose Bowl history.

Which Brown halfback was the first Black player in the Rose Bowl, in 1916, and later the NFL's first Black head coach?

Fritz Pollard and Brown lost to unbeaten Washington State, whose players spent their mornings in California working as extras in a football film.