Liberty Bowl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Liberty Bowl | |
|---|---|
| AutoZone Liberty Bowl | |
 AutoZone Liberty Bowl logo |
|
| Stadium | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Previous Stadiums | John F. Kennedy Stadium (1959-1963) Convention Hall (1964) |
| Previous Locations | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1959-1963) Atlantic City, New Jersey (1964) |
| Operated | 1959-present |
| Conference Tie-ins | C-USA, SEC |
| Previous Conference Tie-ins | MWC (1998-2003) WAC (2004) Air Force/Army/Navy (1989-1992) |
| Payout | US$1,700,000 (2006) |
| Sponsors | |
| AXA Financial (1997-2003) AutoZone (2004-present) |
|
| Former names | |
| AXA Liberty Bowl (1997-2003) | |
| 2007 Matchup | |
| Mississippi State vs. Central Florida (MSU 10, UCF 3) |
|
| 2009 Matchup | |
| C-USA Champion vs. SEC (January 2) | |
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year since 1959. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003. Since 2004, the game has been sponsored by Memphis-based auto parts retailer AutoZone, and is now called the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The bowl game was first played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at John F. Kennedy Stadium (originally Municipal Stadium) until 1963. Initially, the game, the only cold-weather bowl game of its time, was plagued by poor attendance (the 1963 game drew only 8,309 spectators), so the 1964 game was the first bowl game ever played indoors in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Convention Hall before 6,059 fans.
Since 1965, the game has made its home in Memphis, Tennessee in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to much larger crowds and has established itself as one of the oldest non-BCS bowls. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Liberty Bowl offered an automatic invitation to the winner of the Commander in Chief's Trophy, if that team was bowl eligible.[1] From 1997-2004, the regular season champion of Conference USA served as the host team. Since 2005, the winner of the C-USA Championship game has received the berth.
From 1998 to 2005, the opponent for the C-USA champion was the Mountain West Conference champion. There were two exceptions:
- In 2004, Mountain West Champion Utah qualified for the BCS. In their place, the Liberty Bowl chose WAC champion Boise State.
- In 2005, Mountain West Champion TCU chose to play in the Houston Bowl instead of the Liberty Bowl. At-large WAC team Fresno State took their place.
Since the 2006 football season, the game matches the Conference USA champion with a team from the SEC.
The game airs nationally on ESPN, and is carried nationwide by ESPN Radio.
Contents |
[edit] Previous results
[edit] MVPs
| Date played | MVP | School | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 19, 1959 | Jay Huffman | Penn State | C |
| December 17, 1960 | Dick Hoak | Penn State | RB |
| December 16, 1961 | Ernie Davis | Syracuse | RB |
| December 15, 1962 | Terry Baker | Oregon State | QB |
| December 21, 1963 | Ode Burrell | Mississippi State | HB |
| December 19, 1964 | Ernest Allen | Utah | QB |
| December 18, 1965 | Tom Bryan | Auburn | FB |
| December 10, 1966 | Jimmy Cox | Miami (Fla.) | SE |
| December 16, 1967 | Jim Donnan | North Carolina State | QB |
| December 14, 1968 | Steve Hindman | Mississippi | TB |
| December 13, 1969 | Bobby Anderson | Colorado | TB |
| December 12, 1970 | Dave Abercrombie | Tulane | TB |
| December 20, 1971 | Joe Ferguson | Arkansas | QB |
| December 18, 1972 | Jim Stevens | Georgia Tech | QB |
| December 17, 1973 | Stan Fritts | North Carolina State | FB |
| December 16, 1974 | Randy White | Maryland | DT |
| December 22, 1975 | Ricky Bell | USC | RB |
| December 20, 1976 | Barry Krauss | Alabama | LB |
| December 19, 1977 | Matt Kupec | North Carolina | QB |
| December 23, 1978 | James Wilder | Missouri | RB |
| December 22, 1979 | Roch Hontas | Tulane | QB |
| December 27, 1980 | Mark Herrmann | Purdue | QB |
| December 30, 1981 | Eddie Myers | Navy | TB |
| December 29, 1982 | Jeremiah Castille | Alabama | DB |
| December 29, 1983 | Doug Flutie | Boston College | QB |
| December 27, 1984 | Bo Jackson | Auburn | RB |
| December 27, 1985 | Cody Carlson | Baylor | QB |
| December 29, 1986 | Jeff Francis | Tennessee | QB |
| December 29, 1987 | Greg Thomas | Arkansas | QB |
| December 28, 1988 | Dave Schnell | Indiana | QB |
| December 28, 1989 | Randy Baldwin | Mississippi | RB |
| December 27, 1990 | Rob Perez | Air Force | QB |
| December 29, 1991 | Rob Perez | Air Force | QB |
| December 31, 1992 | Cassius Ware | Mississippi | LB |
| December 28, 1993 | Jeff Brohm | Louisville | QB |
| December 31, 1994 | Johnny Johnson | Illinois | QB |
| December 30, 1995 | Kwame Ellis | Stanford | CB |
| December 27, 1996 | Malcolm Thomas | Syracuse | RB |
| December 31, 1997 | Sherrod Gideon | Southern Miss. | WR |
| December 31, 1998 | Shaun King | Tulane | QB |
| December 31, 1999 | Adalius Thomas | Southern Miss. | DE |
| December 29, 2000 | Cecil Sapp | Colorado State | RB |
| December 31, 2001 | Dave Ragone | Louisville | QB |
| December 31, 2002 | LaTarence Dunbar | TCU | WR |
| December 31, 2003 | Brandon Warfield | Utah | RB |
| December 31, 2004 | Stefan LeFors | Louisville | QB |
| December 31, 2005 | Paul Smith | Tulsa | QB |
| December 29, 2006 | Blake Mitchell | South Carolina | QB |
| December 29, 2007 | Derek Pegues | Mississippi State | FS |
[edit] Broadcasters
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color Commentator(s) | Sideline Reporter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 29, 2007 | ESPN | Terry Gannon and David Norrie | ||
| December 29, 2006 | ESPN | Craig James and Doug Flutie | Todd Harris | |
| December 31, 2005 | ESPN | |||
| December 31, 2004 | ESPN | Mike Tirico | Kirk Herbstreit | |
| December 31, 2003 | ESPN |
[edit] References
- ^ COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Boston College Surprises Army - New York Times
- ^ Mountain West Conference champion Utah was released from their contractual obligation to the Liberty Bowl after earning a BCS berth in 2004. Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State took Utah's place.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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