Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl logo
Stadium	University of Phoenix Stadium
Location	Glendale, Arizona
Previous stadiums	Sun Devil Stadium (1971-2006)
Previous locations	Tempe, Arizona (1971-2006)
Operated	1971-present
Conference tie-ins	at-large chosen by selection committee/group of five (2015-present)
Previous conference tie-ins	WAC (1971-1978), Pac-10 (2002) Big 12 (1997-2014)
Payout	US$17,000,000 (As of 2009)[1]
Sponsors
Sunkist (1986-1992) IBM (1993-1995) Tostitos (1996-present)
2013 matchup
Oregon vs. Kansas State (Oregon 35-17)
2014 matchup
Baylor vs UCF (UCF 52-42)

The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium.

Since 1996, Frito-Lay has been the bowl's title sponsor through its Tostitos tortilla chip brand. Previous sponsors included Sunkist and IBM.

In 1998, the Fiesta Bowl became part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), and before 2007 every four years (most recently in 2003) was the designee for the national championship game.

History

Origins (1968-1971)

The Fiesta Bowl was born from the Western Athletic Conference's frustrated attempts to obtain bowl invitations for its champions. In 1968 and 1969 respectively, champions Wyoming and Arizona State failed to secure any bowl selection. The next year, undefeated Arizona State was bypassed by the major bowls and had to settle for an appearance in the less prestigious Peach Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl therefore initially provided an automatic berth for the WAC champion.

1970s

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, despite WAC champion #16 BYU refusing to play in the bowl due to it being held on Sunday.

In 1978, Arizona and Arizona State both joined the Pac-10 Conference and the Fiesta Bowl's tie-in with the WAC ended.

1980s

The game continued to attract high quality matchups, so beginning with the 1981 game the Fiesta Bowl shifted to New Year's Day alongside the major bowl games--the Cotton, Orange, Sugar, and Rose. The Fiesta Bowl was the first bowl game to acquire a title sponsor when it became the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl starting with the 1986 game.

A major breakthrough occurred after the 1986 season when the top two teams in the country, Miami and Penn State, agreed to play for the de facto national championship in the Fiesta Bowl. At the time, the traditional four "major" bowl games granted automatic bids to their conference champions. Both Miami and Penn State were independents at that time, and were thus free to choose a bowl. As such, the Fiesta Bowl and the Florida Citrus Bowl, each free from the obligation of conference tie-ins, vied to host the Miami-Penn State matchup in order to ensure that would meet on the field. The Fiesta Bowl won the bidding and the game was set to be played on January 2, 1987--a day after the "big four" bowls. Penn State won 14–10 over Miami, and the game drew the largest television audience in the history of college football at the time. Two years later, #1 Notre Dame played undefeated #3 West Virginia for the national championship at the 1989 Fiesta Bowl.

The 1987 and 1989 games were two of four straight matchups of teams ranked in the AP Top 10 going into the bowl season to close out the 1980s. This significantly increased the Fiesta Bowl's prestige, to the point that it was now considered a major bowl by many fans and pundits.

1990s

Before 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. However, in 1992, the Fiesta Bowl was invited to participate in the Bowl Coalition, a predecessor to the Bowl Championship Series. This assured the game would feature major conference champions or prestigious runners-up and cemented its status as a major bowl. When the Bowl Coalition was reconfigured as the Bowl Alliance, the Fiesta was included as one of the three top games.

In 1996, it hosted the Bowl Alliance National Championship 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 new 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.

Starting with the 1999 season, the Fiesta Bowl began hosting the Big 12 Conference champion in years when it was not slated as the BCS title game, an arrangement that continues to this day.

2000s

In 2002, the Fiesta Bowl had the right to take the Pac-10 Conference Champion, should that team not reach the Rose Bowl, which served as the National Championship game that season. Oregon failed to qualify for the championship game, and thus played Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl. A similar arrangement was made for the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. However, instead of gaining the Pac-10 Conference champion in addition to their usual tie-in with the Big 12, the Fiesta Bowl would have had a choice of the two teams. This turned out to be a moot point as both the Big 12 champion Texas and Pac-10 champion Southern California qualified for the National Championship Game (USC's participation has since been vacated).^[2]

The BCS National Championship game returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 2003 with the Big Ten champions Ohio State Buckeyes beating the Big East champions Miami Hurricanes in the first overtime national championship game. The game went into double overtime 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 three times, beating Kansas State in 2004, beating Notre Dame in 2006, and losing to Texas in the 2009 game. The Fiesta Bowl was the first BCS bowl to have had an entry from outside the parameters of the BCS (the Big 12, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Southeastern Conference (SEC), Pac-10, Big East, and Notre Dame have tie-ins, while all of the other conferences do not). 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.

2006 Fiesta Bowl, the last Fiesta Bowl game in Sun Devil Stadium

In 2007, the Fiesta Bowl game was played for the first time at the new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, across the Valley of the Sun from Sun Devil Stadium. The BCS agreement now stipulated that the Fiesta Bowl hosts the Big 12 Conference champions unless they are involved in the BCS national championship game.

2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State vs. Oklahoma; January 1, 2007, the first Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium

On January 1, 2007, the undefeated Boise State Broncos won by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 43–42 in overtime. It has been called one of the greatest college football games ever played, due to the combination of an underdog team, trick plays, comebacks by each team, and a thrilling overtime finish.^[3]

On January 2, 2008, the Fiesta Bowl game pitted Big-12 champion #3 Oklahoma against the Big East champion #9 West Virginia. West Virginia beat Oklahoma, 48–28.

2010s

The 2010 Fiesta Bowl took place on January 4, 2010. The BCS #6 Boise State defeated the BCS #4 TCU by the score of 17-10. It was the first time a BCS bowl matched-up two non-automatic qualifying teams (i.e. two teams from conferences without automatic BCS bids) and the first time that two teams who went undefeated faced each other in a BCS game outside of the National Championship.

The 2011 Fiesta Bowl took place on Saturday, January 1 at 8:30 PM ET. The Big 12 Conference Champion Oklahoma Sooners took on Big East Conference Champion Connecticut Huskies. The #7 Sooners, led by coach Bob Stoops, came off a 5-game losing streak in BCS bowls while the Huskies, led by coach Randy Edsall, played in their first BCS game. The Sooners won the match, 48-20. Less than 24 hours after the game, Edsall moved to the head coaching job with the Maryland Terrapins.

The 2012 Fiesta Bowl took place on Monday, January 2. The Big 12 Conference Champion #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys went up against #4 Stanford Cardinal. Many Cowboys fans and even some experts had wanted them in the BCS National Championship game, but the Alabama Crimson Tide remained #2 in the nation. Oklahoma State won on an overtime field goal, after never having led during regulation play.

Controversies

Invitations

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.^[4] This came after #5 ranked BYU was not invited to play in the 1996 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 Alliance. Penn State went on to win the game over #20 Texas 38-15, while BYU defeated #14 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl Classic 19-15.^[5]

Financial scandals

In 2009, prior to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, past and present Fiesta Bowl employees alleged that they were encouraged to help maintain its position as one of the four BCS bowls by making campaign contributions to politicians friendly to the Fiesta Bowl, with those contributions subsequently reimbursed to the employees. If true, this would be a violation of both state and Federal campaign finance laws.^[6] Furthermore, as a non-profit organization, the Fiesta Bowl is prohibited from making political contributions of any kind.^[7] The Fiesta Bowl commissioned an "independent review" which found "no credible evidence that the bowl's management engaged in any type of illegal or unethical conduct."^[8]

The following year, in a November 2010 article, Sports Illustrated reported that Fiesta Bowl officials, including bowl CEO John Junker, spent $4 million since 2000 to curry favor from BCS bigwigs and elected officials, including a 2008 "Fiesta Frolic", a golf-centered gathering of athletic directors and head coaches. The journal also reported that Junker's annual salary was close to $600,000 and that the bowl, in 2007 turned an $11.6 million profit.^[9] While these alleged activities are not illegal, they did result in considerable damage to the reputation of the Fiesta Bowl.

On March 29, 2011, the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors released a 276 page "scathing internal report", commissioned by them to re-examine the accusations of illegal political activities.^[10] The commission determined that $46,539 of illegal campaign contributions were made and the board immediately fired Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker, who had already been suspended pending the results of this investigation.^[11] The scandal threatened the Fiesta Bowl's status as a BCS game, as the BCS said it might replace the bowl in its lineup if officials could not convince them it should remain.^[12][13]

The BCS ultimately chose not to expel the Fiesta Bowl, instead fining the organization $1 million. In June 2011 University of Arizona president Robert Shelton was hired to replace Junker.^[14]

On February 22, 2012, former CEO John Junker pled guilty to a federal felony charge in the campaign financing matter, and two members of his former staff pled guilty to misdemeanor charges.^[15] Junker was to be sentenced soon after, facing up to 2.5 years in prison as the result of his plea, but as of January 2014 his sentencing has been repeatedly postponed in return for cooperation in other cases.^[16][17]

Broadcasting

As of the 2010-11 season, the game along with the rest of the BCS, exclusively airs on ESPN.^[18] From 2007 through 2010, Fox telecast the game along with the other BCS games - the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and BCS National Championship Game from 2006 though 2009, while only the Rose Bowl and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game aired on ABC in that period. From 1999-2006, the game aired on ABC as part of the first BCS package, and from 1996-1998 the game aired on CBS as part of its bowl coverage. Prior to that, NBC aired the game for several years. This game, along with the Orange Bowl, is one of only two bowl games ever to air on all the "big 4" broadcast television networks in the United States.

ESPN Radio is the current radio home for the Fiesta Bowl.

In 2013, ESPN Deportes provided the first Spanish U.S. telecast of the Fiesta Bowl.^[19]

Game results

Italics denote a tie game.
^ - Denotes Bowl Alliance Championship game
* - Denotes BCS National Championship Game

Game MVPs

Appearances by team

Appearances by conference

Game records

References

External links

• Fiesta Bowl

v t e Bowl Championship Series Conferences ACC American (formerly the Big East) Big 12 Big Ten Pac-12 SEC Notre Dame Bowls Fiesta Orange Rose Sugar BCS National Championship Other Controversies Media coverage Mythical national championship Playoff debate Treated as conference champion if ranked in top eight