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2007 Bowl Games

New Year’s weekend is the best time for college football – dozens of games are played in a short time, all of them Bowl Games (championship tournaments). However, it can be confusing as to which one is where and who is involved. There are so many Bowl Games that they can’t all be discussed in a single article, but here are some of the more well-known college Bowl Games.

The Rose Bowl (sometimes called the Granddaddy of Them All) is the oldest bowl game and takes place as part of the Tournament of Roses Parade annually held at New Year’s. The first Rose Bowl was played between Michigan and Stanford, where the former stomped their opponent 49-0, but no other game was officially scheduled until 1916.

The Cotton Bowl Classic takes place at the self-named stadium in Dallas, Texas. The Southwest Conference (which no longer exists) battled it out at this game for forty years. Now, the Cotton Bowl is typically the first game on New Year’s Day, pitting teams from the Big 12 Conference with the Southeastern Conference.

The Orange Bowl takes place in Miami, also on New Year’s Day. Though it used to be played at the Miami Orange Bowl (from 1935-1995), the game has now moved into Dolphin Stadium. Now named after its corporate sponsor, it has become the FedEx Orange Bowl. In cooperation with the Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose Bowls, the Orange Bowl hosts the national championship game once every four years.

The Gator Bowl (now referred to as the Toyota Gator Bowl) is one of the oldest bowl games, having been played continuously since 1946. Typically, this game pits the second place ACC and second place Big East teams against each other, but a Big 12 team or Notre Dame may also take the spot of the Big East. The payout for this game in 2005-2006 was $1.6 million per team.

The Fiesta Bowl (now sponsored by Tostitos), has been played annually at Sun Devil Stadium since 1971. It is now part of the Bowl Championship series, as mentioned above.

If you think that would be more than enough football to satisfy any fan for one weekend, you’d be wrong. These are just a few of the many Bowl Games televised on New Year’s weekend. It’s an American tradition, and, along with the Superbowl, is one of the days (outside of holidays) that Americans consume the most food.

Mike Ditka