Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl
VIZIO Fiesta Bowl
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/Group of Five (2015–present)
Previous conference tie-ins WAC (1971–1978), Big 12 (1997–2014)
Payout US$17 million (As of 2009)[1]
Sponsors
Former names
Fiesta Bowl (1971–1985)
Sunkist Fiesta Bowl (1986–1990)
Fiesta Bowl (1991–1992)
IBM OS/2 Fiesta Bowl (1993–1995)
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (1996–2014)
2014 matchup
Boise State vs. Arizona (Boise State 38–30)

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.

From 1996 until 2014, Frito-Lay was the bowl's title sponsor through its Tostitos tortilla chip brand. Previous sponsors included Sunkist and IBM. Frito Lay withdrew from sponsoring the game on June 9, 2014, citing the higher costs of sponsoring the event through the new College Football Playoff system.[2]

In 1998, the Fiesta Bowl became part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), and before 2015 every four years (most recently in 2010) was the designee for the national championship game. Beginning with the 2014 season, Fiesta Bowl became a member of College Football Playoff, hosting a semifinal game every three years, and all the teams playing in this bowl will be selected by the CFP Selection Committee. On September 28, 2014 Vizio was announced as a new sponsor for the Fiesta Bowl, resulting in the new name VIZIO Fiesta Bowl.[3][4]

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

In its first decade of existence, the Fiesta Bowl was played in the last week of December (including the afternoon of Christmas Day from 1976 to 1979). The 1971 inaugural game featured another top-ten Arizona State squad against top-twenty opponent Florida State. The 1974 game featured WAC champ BYU and their new coach, future Hall of Fame member Lavell Edwards in their first ever bowl game vs. Oklahoma State. BYU was in control until BYU's first All-American quarterback Gary Sheide went down with a leg injury and eventually lost 16-6. 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 continued to the end of the BCS era.

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).[5]

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 Phoenix metropolitan area 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.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

For the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, the selections of TCU and Boise State caused a great deal of controversy. For the first and only time in the BCS era, two "non-BCS" or "non-AQ" teams were chosen to play in BCS bowls in the same bowl season: however, they ended up facing each other in this bowl. Because both non-AQ teams were placed in the same bowl game, the bowl was derisively referred to as the "Separate But Equal Bowl",[9] the "Quarantine Bowl", the "Fiasco Bowl", the "BCS Kids' Table",[10] etc. Some had called for a boycott because of this.[11] There was wide speculation that the BCS bowl selection committees maneuvered TCU and Boise State into the same bowl so as to deny them the chances to "embarrass" two AQ conference representatives in separate bowls, as Boise State had done in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and Utah had done in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and 2009 Sugar Bowl (prior to the game, non-AQ teams were 3–1 versus AQ teams in BCS bowls).[10][12] In response, Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker called those allegations "the biggest load of crap that I've ever heard in my life" and said that "We're in the business of doing things that are on behalf of our bowl game and we don't do the bidding of someone else to our detriment."[13] Beyond the unappealing nature of "David vs. David" contest which resulted from this pairing in a major bowl, the appeal was further diminished due to the fact that it was a rematch of the Poinsettia Bowl from the previous bowl season.

Financial scandals

In 2009, in the weeks 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.[14] Furthermore, as a non-profit organization, the Fiesta Bowl is prohibited from making political contributions of any kind.[15] 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."[16]

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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20][21] 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.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24][25] In March 2014, Junker was sentenced to eight months in prison, with the sentence starting on June 13, 2014.[26] On March 20, 2014, Junker was sentenced to three years of probation on state charges.[27]

Broadcasting

As of the 2010-11 season, the game along with the rest of the BCS, exclusively airs on ESPN.[28] 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.[29]

Game results

Italics denote a tie game.

Date played Winning team Losing team Notes
December 27, 1971 #8 Arizona State 45 Florida State 38 Notes
December 23, 1972 #15 Arizona State 49 Missouri 35 Notes
December 21, 1973 #10 Arizona State 28 Pittsburgh 7 Notes
December 28, 1974 Oklahoma State 16 #17 BYU 6 Notes
December 26, 1975 #7 Arizona State 17 #6 Nebraska 14 Notes
December 25, 1976 #8 Oklahoma 41 Wyoming 7 Notes
December 25, 1977 #8 Penn State 42 #15 Arizona State 30 Notes
December 25, 1978 #8 Arkansas 10 #15 UCLA 10 Notes
December 25, 1979 #10 Pittsburgh 16 Arizona 10 Notes
December 26, 1980 #10 Penn State 31 #11 Ohio State 19 Notes
January 1, 1982 #7 Penn State 26 #8 Southern California 10 Notes
January 1, 1983 #11 Arizona State 32 #12 Oklahoma 21 Notes
January 2, 1984 #14 Ohio State 28 #15 Pittsburgh 23 Notes
January 1, 1985 #14 UCLA 39 #13 Miami 37 Notes
January 1, 1986 #5 Michigan 27 #7 Nebraska 23 Notes
January 2, 1987 #2 Penn State 14 #1 Miami 10 Notes
January 1, 1988 #3 Florida State 31 #5 Nebraska 28 Notes
January 2, 1989 #1 Notre Dame 34 #3 West Virginia 21 Notes
January 1, 1990 #5 Florida State 41 #6 Nebraska 17 Notes
January 1, 1991 #18 Louisville 34 #25 Alabama 7 Notes
January 1, 1992 #6 Penn State 42 #10 Tennessee 17 Notes
January 1, 1993 #6 Syracuse 26 #10 Colorado 22 Notes
January 1, 1994 #16 Arizona 29 #10 Miami 0 Notes
January 2, 1995 #4 Colorado 41 Notre Dame 24 Notes
January 2, 1996^ #1 Nebraska 62 #2 Florida 24 Notes
January 1, 1997 #7 Penn State 38 #20 Texas 15 Notes
December 31, 1997 #10 Kansas State 35 #14 Syracuse 18 Notes
January 4, 1999* #1 Tennessee 23 #2 Florida State 16 Notes
January 2, 2000 #3 Nebraska 31 #6 Tennessee 21 Notes
January 1, 2001 #5 Oregon State 41 #10 Notre Dame 9 Notes
January 1, 2002 #2 Oregon 38 #3 Colorado 16 Notes
January 3, 2003* #2 Ohio State 31 #1 Miami 24 (2 OT) Notes
January 2, 2004 #7 Ohio State 35 #8 Kansas State 28 Notes
January 1, 2005 #5 Utah 35 #19 Pittsburgh 7 Notes
January 2, 2006 #4 Ohio State 34 #5 Notre Dame 20 Notes
January 1, 2007 #9 Boise State 43 #7 Oklahoma 42 (OT) Notes
January 2, 2008 #11 West Virginia 48 #3 Oklahoma 28 Notes
January 5, 2009 #3 Texas 24 #10 Ohio State 21 Notes
January 4, 2010 #6 Boise State 17 #3 TCU 10 Notes
January 1, 2011 #9 Oklahoma 48 #25 Connecticut 20 Notes
January 2, 2012 #3 Oklahoma State 41 #4 Stanford 38 (OT) Notes
January 3, 2013 #5 Oregon 35 #7 Kansas State 17 Notes
January 1, 2014 #15 UCF 52 #6 Baylor 42 Notes
December 31, 2014 #20 Boise State 38 #10 Arizona 30 Notes

^ Denotes Bowl Alliance Championship Game

* Denotes BCS National Championship Game

Game MVPs

Date played MVPs Team Position
December 27, 1971 Gary Huff Florida State QB
Junior Ah You Arizona State DE
December 23, 1972 Woody Green Arizona State HB
Mike Fink Missouri DB
December 21, 1973 Greg Hudson Arizona State SE
Mike Haynes Arizona State CB
December 28, 1974 Kenny Walker Oklahoma State RB
Phil Dokes Oklahoma State DT
December 26, 1975 John Jefferson Arizona State WR
Larry Gordon Arizona State LB
December 25, 1976 Thomas Lott Oklahoma QB
Terry Peters Oklahoma CB
December 25, 1977 Matt Millen Penn State LB
Dennis Sproul Arizona State QB
December 25, 1978 James Owens UCLA RB
Jimmy Walker Arkansas DT
December 25, 1979 Mark Schubert Pittsburgh K
Dave Liggins Arizona S
December 26, 1980 Curt Warner Penn State RB
Frank Case Penn State DE
January 1, 1982 Curt Warner Penn State RB
Leo Wisniewski Penn State NT
January 1, 1983 Marcus Dupree Oklahoma RB
Jim Jeffcoat Arizona State DL
January 2, 1984 John Congemi Pittsburgh QB
Rowland Tatum Ohio State LB
January 1, 1985 Gaston Green UCLA TB
James Washington UCLA DB
January 1, 1986 Jamie Morris Michigan RB
Mark Messner Michigan DT
January 2, 1987 D.J. Dozier Penn State RB
Shane Conlan Penn State LB
January 1, 1988 Danny McManus Florida State QB
Neil Smith Nebraska DL
January 2, 1989 Tony Rice Notre Dame QB
Frank Stams Notre Dame DE
January 1, 1990 Peter Tom Willis Florida State QB
Odell Haggins Florida State NG
January 1, 1991 Browning Nagle Louisville QB
Ray Buchanan Louisville FS
January 1, 1992 O.J. McDuffie Penn State WR
Reggie Givens Penn State OLB
January 1, 1993 Marvin Graves Syracuse QB
Kevin Mitchell Syracuse NG
January 1, 1994 Chuck Levy Arizona RB
Tedy Bruschi Arizona DE
January 2, 1995 Kordell Stewart Colorado QB
Shannon Clavelle Colorado DT
January 2, 1996 Tommie Frazier Nebraska QB
Michael Booker Nebraska CB
January 1, 1997 Curtis Enis Penn State TB
Brandon Noble Penn State DT
December 31, 1997 Michael Bishop Kansas State QB
Travis Ochs Kansas State LB
January 4, 1999 Peerless Price Tennessee WR
Dwayne Goodrich Tennessee CB
January 2, 2000 Eric Crouch Nebraska QB
Mike Brown Nebraska DB
January 1, 2001 Jonathan Smith Oregon State QB
Darnell Robinson Oregon State LB
January 1, 2002 Joey Harrington Oregon QB
Steve Smith Oregon DB
January 3, 2003 Craig Krenzel Ohio State QB
Mike Doss Ohio State SS
January 2, 2004 Craig Krenzel Ohio State QB
A.J. Hawk Ohio State OLB
January 1, 2005 Alex Smith Utah QB
Paris Warren Utah WR
Steve Fifita Utah NG
January 2, 2006 Troy Smith Ohio State QB
A.J. Hawk Ohio State OLB
January 1, 2007 Jared Zabransky Boise State QB
Marty Tadman Boise State S
January 2, 2008 Pat White West Virginia QB
Reed Williams West Virginia OLB
January 5, 2009 Colt McCoy Texas QB
Roy Miller Texas DT
January 4, 2010 Kyle Efaw Boise State TE
Brandyn Thompson Boise State CB
January 1, 2011 Landry Jones Oklahoma QB
Jamell Fleming Oklahoma CB
January 2, 2012 Justin Blackmon Oklahoma State WR
Justin Gilbert Oklahoma State CB
January 3, 2013 Marcus Mariota Oregon QB
Michael Clay Oregon LB
January 1, 2014 Blake Bortles UCF QB
Terrance Plummer UCF LB
December 31, 2014 Thomas Sperbeck Boise State WR
Tanner Vallejo Boise State LB

Appearances by team

Rank Team Appearances Record
T1 Penn State 6 6-0
T1 Arizona State 6 5-1
T1 Ohio State 6 4-2
T1 Nebraska 6 2-4
5 Oklahoma 5 2-3
T6 Florida State 4 2-2
T6 Notre Dame 4 1-3
T6 Pittsburgh 4 1-3
T6 Miami 4 0-4
T10 Boise State 3 3-0
T10 Colorado 3 1-2
T10 Kansas State 3 1-2
T10 Tennessee 3 1-2
T10 Arizona 3 1-2
T15 Oklahoma State 2 2-0
T15 Oregon 2 2-0
T15 Syracuse 2 1-1
T15 Texas 2 1-1
T15 West Virginia 2 1-1
T15 UCLA 2 1-0-1
T21 Louisville 1 1-0
T21 Michigan 1 1-0
T21 Oregon State 1 1-0
T21 UCF 1 1-0
T21 Utah 1 1-0
T21 TCU 1 0-1
T21 Arkansas 1 0-0-1
T21 Alabama 1 0-1
T20 Baylor 1 0-1
T21 BYU 1 0-1
T21 Connecticut 1 0-1
T20 Florida 1 0-1
T20 Missouri 1 0-1
T20 Southern California 1 0-1
T20 Stanford 1 0-1
T20 Wyoming 1 0-1

Appearances by conference

Conference Teams Games Won Lost Tied Pct.
American Athletic Conference111001.000
Atlantic Coast Conference11010.000
Big 8 Conference511470.364
Big 12 Conference712570.417
Big East Conference57250.286
Big Ten Conference38620.750
Independents7191090.526
Mountain West Conference33210.667
Pac-10/12 Conference 7 11 6 4 1 .545
Southeastern Conference 3 5 1 4 0 .200
Southwest Conference 1 1 0 0 1 .000
Western Athletic Conference 4 9 6 3 0 .667

Game records

Team Performance vs. Opponent Year
Most points scored 52, UCF vs. Baylor (42) 2014
Fewest points allowed0, Arizona (29) vs. Miami 1994
First downs33, Texas vs. Ohio State
33, Arizona State vs. Missouri
2009
1972
Rushing yards524, Nebraska vs. Florida1996
Passing yards458, Louisville vs. Alabama1991
Total yards718, Arizona State vs. Missouri1972
Individual Performance, Team vs. Opponent Year
Total Offense431, Browning Nagle, Louisville vs. Alabama (39 plays)1991
Rushing Yards 245, Marcus Dupree, Oklahoma vs. Arizona State (17 att., 0 TD) 1983
Rushing TDs 4, Woody Green, Arizona State vs. Missouri 1972
Long plays Performance, Team vs. Opponent Year
Touchdown run 94, De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon vs. Kansas State 2013
Touchdown pass 85, Troy Smith to Santonio Holmes, Ohio State vs. Notre Dame 2006

References

  1. "Real Insight. Real Fans. Real Conversations". Sporting News. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
  2. .; Michael Smith, John Ourand & Terry Lefton (9 June 2014). "Discover, Tostitos to end bowl title deals". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  3. "Vizio to sponsor Fiesta Bowl".
  4. "Fiesta Bowl Announces VIZIO Partnership" (Press release). Fiesta Bowl. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  5. "Oregon clinches berth in Fiesta Bowl; National title still a possibility". The Seattle Times. November 17, 2001.
  6. Thamel, Pete (2007-01-02). "Playbook Full of Tricks Gives Boise State Dramatic and Defining Victory". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
  7. 1996 AP archives. December 11, 1996. Honolulu Star-Bulletin
  8. Weinreb, Michael. "The Night College Football Went To Hell". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  9. Matthew Sanderson (2009-12-07). "Boise Is In, But BCS Still Flawed". RealClearSports. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Pre-Bowl Thoughts - 2010 Fiesta Bowl". Scout.com. December 31, 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  11. Al Namias IV (2009-12-07). "Poinsettia Bowl: 2008 Redux". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 10 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  12. "Instant Analysis - The Bowl Announcement". Scout.com. December 7, 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  13. Graham Watson (December 7, 2009). "Fiesta Bowl wasn't looking at the non-AQ distinction". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  14. "Fiesta Bowl employees say bowl repaid political contributions".
  15. "Fiesta Bowl Scandal Causes Stir".
  16. "Fiesta Bowl finds no wrongdoing after allegations of illegal political donations".
  17. Murphy, Austin, and Dan Wetzel, "Does It Matter?", Sports Illustrated, 15 November 2010, p. 45.
  18. "Final Report".
  19. "Fiesta Bowl fires CEO John Junker", AP, March 29, 2011
  20. BCS confident it could cut ties with Fiesta Bowl if deemed necessary
  21. Wetzel, Dan, "BCS conducts shallow probe as party rages on", Yahoo! Sports, retrieved on 31 March 2011.
  22. Associated Press, "Fiesta Bowl names new president", Japan Times, 15 June 2011, p. 15.
  23. Harris, Craig (February 22, 2012). "Former Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker pleads guilty to felony". Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  24. Harris, Craig (May 22, 2012). "Sentencing postponed for former Fiesta Bowl exec Wisneski". Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  25. Associated Press (2014-01-01). "John Junker update: Sentencing delay sought for ex-Fiesta Bowl chief". 'ABC15Arizona.com. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  26. Associated Press (2014-03-13). "Ex-Fiesta Bowl chief headed to prison". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  27. Associated Press (2014-03-20). "Ex-CEO of Fiesta Bowl sentenced". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  28. Fox pulls out of bidding for next round of BCS games
  29. "BCS National Championship and Bowl Games on ESPN Deportes". ESPN. Retrieved 24 December 2012.

External links