Boardwalk Bowl
The Boardwalk Bowl is a post-season college football game held at the former Atlantic City Convention Center (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The game featured an annual matchup between Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) and the United States Merchant Marine Academy, known as the "Little Army–Navy Game" until 1967 [1]. The playing surface in the earlier years consisted of natural grass sod that was grown outside and then moved indoors for the game. This game was first held in 1961 and continued annually through 1973. From 1968 through 1972, it was the NCAA College Division East championship game. In 1973, under a new playoff system, it became the Division II national semifinal. It was discontinued after the 1973 game. The Boardwalk Bowl, along with the Liberty Bowl (played in the Convention Center in 1964), showed the feasibility of playing football indoors and led the promoters of football games to look seriously at developing indoor facilities primarily for this purpose. Since 1981, the NCAA Division I FCS Playoff East Regional Championship (National Quarterfinal) is commonly referred to as the Boardwalk Bowl in honor of its College Division heritage. The game is played at the highest remaining seed in the East Region with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division I FCS Playoff Final Four (National Semifinal).
College Division Game results
Date |
Winning Team |
Losing Team |
December 2, 1961 |
Pennsylvania Military College |
35 |
Merchant Marine Academy |
14 |
December 1, 1962 |
Merchant Marine |
9 |
Pennsylvania Military |
0 |
November 30, 1963 |
Merchant Marine |
27 |
Pennsylvania Military |
13 |
November 28, 1964 |
Merchant Marine |
20 |
Pennsylvania Military |
16 |
November 27, 1965 |
Merchant Marine |
22 |
Pennsylvania Military |
12 |
November 26, 1966 |
Merchant Marine |
46 |
Pennsylvania Military |
7 |
November 25, 1967 |
Merchant Marine |
39 |
Pennsylvania Military |
6 |
December 14, 1968 |
Delaware |
31 |
Indiana (Pa.) |
24 |
December 13, 1969 |
Delaware |
31 |
North Carolina Central |
13 |
December 12, 1970 |
Delaware |
38 |
Morgan State |
23 |
December 11, 1971 |
Delaware |
72 |
C.W. Post |
22 |
December 9, 1972 |
Massachusetts |
35 |
California-Davis |
14 |
December 1, 1973 |
Grambling State |
17 |
Delaware |
8 |
FCS Results (East Region Championship - FCS Playoffs)
Date |
Winning Team |
Losing Team |
December 5, 1981 |
Eastern Kentucky |
35 |
Delaware |
28 |
December 4, 1982 |
Delaware |
20 |
Colgate |
13 |
December 3, 1983 |
Furman |
35 |
Boston |
16 |
December 1, 1984 |
Rhode Island |
23 |
Richmond |
17 |
December 7, 1985 |
Furman |
59 |
Rhode Island |
15 |
December 6, 1986 |
Arkansas State |
55 |
Delaware |
14 |
December 5, 1987 |
Louisiana-Monroe |
33 |
Eastern Kentucky |
32 |
December 3, 1988 |
Furman |
13 |
Marshall |
9 |
December 2, 1989 |
Furman |
42 |
Youngstown State |
23 |
December 1, 1990 |
Nevada |
42 |
Furman |
35 |
December 7, 1991 |
Samford |
24 |
James Madison |
21 |
December 5, 1992 |
Marshall |
35 |
Middle Tennessee State |
21 |
December 4, 1993 |
Marshall |
34 |
Delaware |
31 |
December 3, 1994 |
Marshall |
28 |
James Madison |
21 |
December 2, 1995 |
McNeese State |
52 |
Delaware |
18 |
December 7, 1996 |
Northern Iowa |
38 |
William & Mary |
35 |
December 6, 1997 |
Youngstown State |
37 |
Villanova |
34 |
December 5, 1998 |
Massachusetts |
27 |
Lehigh |
21 |
December 4, 1999 |
Georgia Southern |
38 |
Massachusetts |
21 |
December 2, 2000 |
Delaware |
47 |
Lehigh |
22 |
December 8, 2001 |
Furman |
34 |
Lehigh |
17 |
December 7, 2002 |
Villanova |
24 |
Fordham |
10 |
December 6, 2003 |
Delaware |
37 |
Northern Iowa |
7 |
December 4, 2004 |
James Madison |
14 |
Furman |
13 |
December 3, 2005 |
Northern Iowa |
24 |
New Hampshire |
21 |
December 1, 2006 |
Massachusetts |
24 |
New Hampshire |
17 |
December 7, 2007 |
Richmond |
21 |
Wofford |
10 |
December 6, 2008 |
James Madison |
31 |
Villanova |
27 |
December 6, 2009 |
Villanova |
46 |
New Hampshire |
7 |
December 10, 2010 |
Delaware |
16 |
New Hampshire |
3 |
December 10, 2011 |
Georgia Southern |
35 |
Maine |
23 |
See also