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Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by
Tostitos tortilla chips (a
Frito-Lay product), is a
United States college football game played annually since
1971. Originally, the game was hosted in
Tempe, Arizona at
Sun Devil Stadium where it remained until 2006. Previous bowl game sponsors included
Sunkist and
IBM's OS/2 system.
In
1999 the Fiesta Bowl became part of the
Bowl Championship Series (BCS), and every four years (most recently in
2003) is the designee for the
national championship game. In January
2007, the game will be played at
University of Phoenix Stadium in
Glendale, Arizona, along with the new stand-alone
BCS National Championship Game. In the BCS alignment the bowl will host the
Big 12 Conference champion unless they are involved in the national championship game.
The 2007 game will feature Big 12 champion
Oklahoma and
Western Athletic Conference champion
Boise State, only the second school from outside the BCS to play in a BCS bowl game.
History
The creation of the Fiesta Bowl grew out of the frustration of the
Western Athletic Conference in trying to obtain bowl invitiations for its champions. In
1968 and
1969 respectively, champions
Wyoming and
Arizona State failed to obtain any bowl invitation. The next year, undefeated Arizona State was bypassed by the major bowls and had to settle for a less prestigious
Peach Bowl appearance. The Fiesta Bowl therefore initially provided an automatic bowl tie-in for the
Western Athletic Conference champion.
The
1971 inaugural game featured another top-ten Arizona State squad against top-twenty opponent
Florida State. By
1975, the game was able to attract
Big Eight co-champion
Nebraska to play undefeated Arizona State in a matchup of top-five teams. In
1977, the game was again able to attract a top-five opponent in
Penn State.
In
1978,
Arizona and Arizona State each joined the
Pac 10 Conference and the Fiesta Bowl's tie-in with the
Western Athletic Conference ended. The game continued to attract high quality matchups, so beginning with the
1981 game the Fiesta Bowl shifted to
New Year's Day with the other major bowl games.
A major breakthrough occurred during the 1986 season when the top two teams in the country,
Miami and Penn State, agreed to play for the
National Championship in the Fiesta Bowl. At the time, the "Big Four" bowl games (Cotton, Orange, Sugar, and Rose) had contracts with the major conferences wherein those conference champions were guaranteed spots in those bowls. Both Miami and Penn State were independents at that time. The Fiesta Bowl and the
Florida Citrus Bowl, each free from the obligation of conference tie-ins, vied to host the game. The Fiesta Bowl won the bidding matchup and the game was moved to the day after the 4 "Major" bowls. The 1987 game, won by Penn State 14-10, was the most watched game, in terms of television viewership, in the history of college football. Two years later, #1
Notre Dame played undefeated #3
West Virginia for the National Championship at the Fiesta Bowl. By this time, the Fiesta Bowl's ability to stage games with national championship implications propelled it to major-bowl status in the minds of college football fans, replacing the
Cotton Bowl as a member of the postseason's "top four."
For the
1991 game, several major universities declined invitations due to the
State of Arizona's decision at that time not to adopt the
Martin Luther King Holiday.
In
1992, the Fiesta Bowl was invited to participate in the
Bowl Coalition, a predecessor to the
Bowl Championship Series, assuring the game would feature major conference champions or prestigious runners up, and the possibility of hosting further
national title games. When this series incorporated a
title game with a preset rotating site beginning in
1996, the Fiesta Bowl was the first to host the game, featuring undefeated #1 Nebraska playing undefeated #2
Florida for the National Championship. Finally, with the addition of the
Big Ten and
Pac 10 conferences to the rechristened
Bowl Championship Series, the Fiesta Bowl became a permanent fixture in the four year
BCS National Championship Game rotation. In
1998, the Fiesta Bowl featured the first
BCS National Championship Game, which Tennessee won over Florida State, 23 to 16.
The BCS National Championship game returned to the Fiesta Bowl 2003 with The Ohio State Buckeyes beating the Miami Hurricanes in the first overtime national championship game. The game went into 2 overtimes with the Buckeyes coming out on top 31-24 to claim the 2002 National Championship. Since that game the Buckeyes have returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 2004 beating Kansas St. and in 2006 beating Notre Dame. During the trophy presentation Ohio State quarterback and MVP, Troy Smith, commented on The Buckeyes dominance in the Fiesta Bowl by saying "The National Championship game is here next year; we like that."
The Fiesta Bowl is the only BCS bowl to date that has had an entry from outside the BCS conferences (independent Notre Dame is also a full BCS member). The 2005 game saw undefeated
Utah become the first non-BCS school ever to play in a BCS game, easily defeating
Big East champion
Pittsburgh 35-7. As noted above, Boise State will play in the 2007 game.
Controversy
In 1996 a group of students from Brigham Young University, led by BYU professor Dennis Martin, burned bags of Tostitos tortilla chips in a bonfire and called for a boycott of all Tostitos products.
[http://starbulletin.com/96/12/11/sports/notebook.html 1996 AP archives. December 11, 1996. Honolulu Star-Bulletin] This came after #5 ranked BYU was not invited to play in the 1996-97 Fiesta Bowl in favor of #7 ranked Penn State. This event is one of those referred to by proponents of college football implementing a playoff series rather than the controversial
Bowl Championship Series (BCS), so the teams with smaller fan bases can be treated the same as the larger schools.
Penn State went on to win the game over the Texas Longhorns 38-15, while BYU defeated Kansas State in the
Cotton Bowl 19-15.
Game results
Italics denote a tie game.* - Denotes BCS Championship Games
{| class="wikitable"
!| Date played !! colspan="2" | Winning team !! colspan="2" | Losing team
|-
|
December 27,
1971 ||
Arizona State ||
45 ||
Florida State || 38
|-
|
December 23,
1972 ||
Arizona State ||
49 ||
Missouri || 35
|-
|
December 21,
1973 ||
Arizona State ||
28 ||
Pittsburgh || 7
|-
|
December 28,
1974 ||
Oklahoma State ||
16 ||
BYU || 6
|-
|
December 26,
1975 ||
Arizona State ||
17 ||
Nebraska || 14
|-
|
December 25,
1976 ||
Oklahoma ||
41 ||
Wyoming || 7
|-
|
December 25,
1977 ||
Penn State ||
42 || Arizona State || 30
|-
|
December 25,
1978 ||
Arkansas ||
10 ||
UCLA ||
10|-
|
December 25,
1979 ||
Pittsburgh ||
16 ||
Arizona || 10
|-
|
December 26,
1980 ||
Penn State ||
31 ||
Ohio State || 19
|-
|
January 1,
1982 ||
Penn State ||
26 ||
Southern California || 10
|-
|
January 1,
1983 ||
Arizona State ||
32 || Oklahoma || 21
|-
|
January 2,
1984 ||
Ohio State ||
28 || Pittsburgh || 23
|-
|
January 1,
1985 ||
UCLA ||
39 ||
Miami || 37
|-
|
January 1,
1986 ||
Michigan ||
27 || Nebraska || 23
|-
|
January 2,
1987 ||
Penn State ||
14 || Miami || 10
|-
|
January 1,
1988 ||
Florida State ||
31 || Nebraska || 28
|-
|
January 2,
1989 ||
Notre Dame ||
34 ||
West Virginia || 21
|-
|
January 1,
1990 ||
Florida State ||
41 ||
Nebraska || 17
|-
|
January 1,
1991 ||
Louisville ||
34 ||
Alabama || 7
|-
|
January 1,
1992 ||
Penn State ||
42 ||
Tennessee || 17
|-
|
January 1,
1993 ||
Syracuse ||
26 ||
Colorado || 22
|-
|
January 1,
1994 ||
Arizona ||
29 || Miami || 0
|-
|
January 2,
1995 ||
Colorado ||
41 || Notre Dame || 24
|-
|
January 2,
1996 ||
Nebraska ||
62 ||
Florida || 24
|-
|
January 1,
1997 ||
Penn State ||
38 ||
Texas || 15
|-
|
December 31,
1997 ||
Kansas State ||
35 || Syracuse || 18
|-
|
January 4,
1999* ||
Tennessee ||
23 || Florida State || 16
|-
|
January 2,
2000 ||
Nebraska ||
31 || Tennessee || 21
|-
|
January 1,
2001 ||
Oregon State ||
41 || Notre Dame || 9
|-
|
January 1,
2002 ||
Oregon ||
38 || Colorado || 16
|-
|
January 3,
2003* ||
Ohio State ||
31 || Miami || 24 (2 OT)
|-
|
January 2,
2004 ||
Ohio State ||
35 || Kansas State || 28
|-
|
January 1,
2005 ||
Utah||
35 || Pittsburgh || 7
|-
|
January 2,
2006 ||
Ohio State ||
34 || Notre Dame || 20
|-
|
January 1,
2007 ||align=center colspan=4|Oklahoma vs.
Boise State|}
Most Valuable Player Award winners
{|class="wikitable"
!|Date played
!|MVPs
!|Team
!|Position
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 27,
1971 ||
Gary Huff || Florida State || QB
|-
|
Junior Ah You || Arizona State || DE
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 23,
1972 ||
Woody Green || Arizona State || HB
|-
|
Mike Fink || Missouri || DB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 21,
1973 ||
Greg Hudson || Arizona State || SE
|-
|
Mike Haynes || Arizona State || CB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 28,
1974 ||
Kenny Walker || Oklahoma State || RB
|-
|
Phil Dokes || Oklahoma State || DT
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 26,
1975 ||
John Jefferson || Arizona State || WR
|-
|
Larry Gordon || Arizona State || LB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 25,
1976 ||
Thomas Lott || Oklahoma || QB
|-
|
Terry Peters || Oklahoma || CB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 25,
1977 ||
Matt Millen || Penn State || LB
|-
|
Dennis Sproul || Arizona State || QB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 25,
1978 ||
James Owens || UCLA || RB
|-
|
Jimmy Walker || Arkansas || DT
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 25,
1979 ||
Mark Schubert || Pittsburgh || K
|-
|
Dave Liggins || Arizona || S
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 26,
1980 ||
Curt Warner || Penn State || RB
|-
|
Frank Case || Penn State || DE
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1982 ||
Curt Warner || Penn State || RB
|-
|
Leo Wisniewski || Penn State || NT
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1983 ||
Marcus Dupree || Oklahoma || RB
|-
|
Jim Jeffcoat || Arizona State || DL
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
1984 ||
John Congemi || Pittsburgh || QB
|-
|
Rowland Tatum || Ohio State || LB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1985 ||
Gaston Green || UCLA || TB
|-
|
James Washington || UCLA || DB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1986 ||
Jamie Morris || Michigan || RB
|-
|
Mark Messner || Michigan || DT
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
1987 ||
D.J. Dozier || Penn State || RB
|-
|
Shane Conlan || Penn State || LB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1988 ||
Danny McManus || Florida State || QB
|-
|
Neil Smith || Nebraska || DL
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
1989 ||
Tony Rice || Notre Dame || QB
|-
|
Frank Stams || Notre Dame || DE
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1990 ||
Peter Tom Willis || Florida State || QB
|-
|
Odell Haggins || Florida State || NG
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1991 ||
Browning Nagle || Louisville || QB
|-
|
Ray Buchanan || Louisville || FS
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1992 ||
O.J. McDuffie || Penn State || WR
|-
|
Reggie Givens || Penn State || OLB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1993 ||
Marvin Graves || Syracuse || QB
|-
|
Kevin Mitchell || Syracuse || NG
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1994 ||
Chuck Levy || Arizona || RB
|-
|
Tedy Bruschi || Arizona || DE
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
1995 ||
Kordell Stewart || Colorado || QB
|-
|
Shannon Clavelle || Colorado || DT
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
1996 ||
Tommie Frazier || Nebraska || QB
|-
|
Michael Booker || Nebraska || CB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
1997 ||
Curtis Enis || Penn State || TB
|-
|
Brandon Noble || Penn State || DT
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
December 31,
1997 ||
Michael Bishop || Kansas State || QB
|-
|
Travis Ochs || Kansas State || LB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 4,
1999 ||
Peerless Price || Tennessee || WR
|-
|
Dwayne Goodrich || Tennessee || CB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
2000 ||
Eric Crouch || Nebraska || QB
|-
|
Mike Brown || Nebraska || DB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
2001 ||
Jonathan Smith || Oregon State || QB
|-
|
Darnell Robinson || Oregon State || LB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 1,
2002 ||
Joey Harrington || Oregon || QB
|-
|
Steve Smith || Oregon || DB
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 3,
2003 ||
Craig Krenzel || Ohio State || QB
|-
|
Mike Doss || Ohio State || SS
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
2004 ||
Craig Krenzel || Ohio State || QB
|-
|
A.J. Hawk || Ohio State || OLB
|-
|rowspan = "3" |
January 1,
2005 ||
Alex Smith || Utah || QB
|-
|
Paris Warren || Utah || WR
|-
|
Steve Fifita || Utah || NG
|-
|rowspan = "2" |
January 2,
2006 ||
Troy Smith || Ohio State || QB
|-
|
A.J. Hawk || Ohio State || OLB
|}
See also
*
List of college bowl gamesExternal links
*
http://www.tostitosfiestabowl.com/ Fiesta Bowl*
http://www.mmbolding.com/bowls History of the Fiesta BowlBowl
Category:American football competitionsCategory:Arizona State UniversityCategory:Bowl Championship SeriesCategory:College football bowlsCategory:Sports in PhoenixReferences
fr:Fiesta Bowl
