Origins, History and Interesting Facts
It’s that time of year…time for the pageantry, the color and the drama of an American tradition—the college football bowl game. The annual gridiron glut began more than 120 years ago, when the University of Michigan met Stanford in the 1902 Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It wasn’t referred to at the time as the “Rose Bowl,” but billed as the “Tournament East-West Football Game.” Michigan dominated in that clash, winning 49-0. For the next 20 years, the Pasadena game remained the only postseason contest in college football.
As an interesting side note, the Tournament of Roses—the parade that accompanies the Rose Bowl—actually kicked off 12 years before the first game was played, on January 1, 1890. As the East-West game grew in popularity, organizers saw the need to erect a new stadium for the game. That facility, dubbed the “Rose Bowl,” opened in 1923.
The Expansion of the Bowl Game
As other cities around the country saw the boost that the bowl game gave to Southern California, other festivals arose around the country, typically with a competitive football game as the feature event. In 1935, three new bowl games were added to the schedule:
- The Orange Bowl, held in Florida
- The Sugar Bowl, in New Orleans
- The Sun Bowl, in El Paso, Texas
Two years later, the first Cotton Bowl Classic was held in Arlington, Texas. Shortly after World War II, two more bowl games were added—the Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida) in 1946 and the Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Florida) in 1947. By 1971, there were 10 “team-competitive” bowl games (as distinguished from “all-star” games). Since then, the number of bowl games has steadily grown, hitting 20 in 1997, 30 just ten years later and 40 by the 2015 bowl season. There are currently 42 bowl games, not including the annual Army-Navy clash and the College Football Championship game.
Interesting Facts about College Football Bowl Games
Though the inaugural game was played in 1902, the Rose Bowl did not become an annual event until 1916. Since then, it’s been played in Pasadena every year except 1942, when the game was moved to the East Coast because of national security concerns.
The shortest-lived bowl lasted just two years. Played in Houston, it was dubbed the Oil Bowl.
The first Sun Bowl was actually a fundraiser for a local service club in El Paso, and featured a team of all-stars taking on the varsity from Ranger High School. The all-stars won, 25-21.
The 2006 Sugar Bowl could not be played in New Orleans, due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It was moved to the Georgia Dome, where the Hokies of West Virginia defeated the locals, 10-3.
