Mirage Bowl (college football)
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For the optical illusion, see Parabolic reflector.
The Mirage Bowl was an annual college football game hosted in Tokyo, Japan from 1977 through 1993. The game was renamed the Coca-Cola Bowl or Coca-Cola Classic in 1986 and kept this name until the event was discontinued after the 1993 season. Unlike most college football bowl games, the Mirage Bowl was the site of a regular season matchup, usually between two teams from the same conference.
The first Mirage Bowl was played in Korakuen Stadium on December 11th, 1977 between Grambling and Temple. Grambling won 35-32. Grambling quarterback Doug Williams was named MVP.
The game was held in the Tokyo Dome from 1988 to 1993.
[edit] Game results
Italics denote a tie game.
Date Played | Winning Team | Losing Team | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
December 11, 1977 | Grambling | 35 | Temple | 32 |
December 10, 1978 | Temple | 28 | Boston College | 24 |
November 24, 1979 | Notre Dame | 40 | Miami (FL) | 15 |
November 30, 1980 | UCLA | 34 | Oregon State | 3 |
November 28, 1981 | Air Force | 21 | San Diego State | 16 |
November 27, 1982 | Clemson | 21 | Wake Forest | 17 |
November 26, 1983 | SMU | 34 | Houston | 12 |
November 17, 1984 | Army | 45 | Montana | 31 |
November 30, 1985 | USC | 20 | Oregon | 6 |
November 30, 1986 | Stanford | 29 | Arizona | 24 |
November 28, 1987 | California | 17 | Washington State | 17 |
December 3, 1988 | Oklahoma State | 45 | Texas Tech | 42 |
December 4, 1989 | Syracuse | 24 | Louisville | 13 |
December 2, 1990 | Houston | 62 | Arizona State | 45 |
November 30, 1991 | Clemson | 33 | Duke | 21 |
December 6, 1992 | Nebraska | 38 | Kansas State | 24 |
December 6, 1993 | Wisconsin | 41 | Michigan State | 20 |
[edit] Trivia
- Nebraska and Wisconsin won their respective conference titles (Big Eight and Big Ten) at the last two Mirage Bowls. The 1993 win allowed Wisconsin to advance to its first Rose Bowl Game since 1963.
- The 1984 Mirage Bowl between Army and Montana marked the introduction of "The Wave" to Japan.