Grantland Rice Bowl

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The Grantland Rice Bowl was an annual college football bowl game, one of four regional NCAA college division championships from 1964 to 1972. It was the Mideast Regional championship, played in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from 1964 to 1968. In 1969, the regional alignments shifted and the game was relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where it remained until 1975. In 1973, under the newly restructured college division playoff system, the game became the national Division II semifinal. In 1976, the game was played as the Division II semifinal in Fargo, North Dakota, and in 1977, was played in Anniston, Alabama. With the formation of the NCAA Division 1-AA and the modern playoff structure, the game ceased to exist. The game was named for Grantland Rice.

Information on the history of the Grantland Rice Bowl and NCAA College Division postseason games obtained from the NCAA.

In the 1968 game, Tommy Spinks of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston set two records when he caught 12 passes for 167 yards.

• 1964 Middle Tennessee St. 20-0 Muskingum (OH) Murfreesboro, TN
• 1965 Ball St. (IN) 14-14 Tennessee St. Murfreesboro, TN
• 1966 Tennessee St. 34-7 Muskingum (OH) Murfreesboro, TN
• 1967 Eastern Kentucky 27-13 Ball St. (IN) Murfreesboro, TN
• 1968 Louisiana Tech 33-13 Akron (OH) Murfreesboro, TN
• 1969 East Tennessee St. 34-14 Louisiana Tech Baton Rouge, LA
• 1970 Tennessee St. 26-25 Louisiana-Lafayette Baton Rouge, LA
• 1971 Tennessee St. 26-23 McNeese St. (LA) Baton Rouge, LA
• 1972 Louisiana Tech 35-0 Tennessee Tech Baton Rouge, LA
• 1973 Western Kentucky 28-20 Grambling St. (LA) Baton Rouge, LA
• 1974 Delaware 49-11 Nevada-Las Vegas Baton Rouge, LA
• 1975 Western Kentucky 14-3 New Hampshire Baton Rouge, LA
• 1976 Montana St. 10-3 North Dakota St. Fargo, ND
• 1977 Jacksonville St. (AL) 31-7 North Dakota St. Anniston, AL