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65-700: Since 1992, the Fiesta Bowl has been part of some organization of bowls designed to determine an undisputed national champion. In 1992, it was named as one of the Bowl Coalition games, but the bowl was never used to determine the champion. In 1995, the organizers of the Fiesta Bowl joined with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl to form the Bowl Alliance , with each bowl guaranteed to host

130-477: A 28-7 deficit late in the 2nd quarter to defeat Notre Dame 37-35. In the December edition of that game (which was also a CFP semifinal), #3 TCU defeated #2 Michigan 51-45, the highest scoring game in Fiesta Bowl history, and the second-highest scoring CFP semifinal game. In 1996, a group of students from Brigham Young University , led by BYU professor Dennis Martin, burned bags of Tostitos tortilla chips in

195-467: A BCS game outside of the national championship. In the 2012 Fiesta Bowl , Oklahoma State defeated Stanford 41–38. Notable players included Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon for Oklahoma State, and Andrew Luck for Stanford. In November 2016, PlayStation was announced as the bowl's new title sponsor. The December 2016 , December 2019 , and December 2022 editions served as a semifinal for

260-423: A bonfire and called for a boycott of all Tostitos products. This came after #5 ranked BYU was not invited to play in the 1997 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

325-590: A bowl invitation. To alleviate these concerns, before the 1995 season the Bowl Coalition was reconfigured into the Bowl Alliance , breaking up the conference tie-ins and tweaking a system that still did not include the Big Ten and the Pac-10. The final year of the Bowl Coalition saw its formula break down completely, as the situation it was designed to prevent (a split national championship) presented itself as

390-695: A championship game as the coaches’ poll was contractually obligated to choose the winner of the Bowl Alliance championship game as its national champion. The Fiesta Bowl hosted the first of these games in January 1996. After the 1997 season, the three Bowl Alliance bowls joined with the Rose Bowl to form the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), with the Fiesta Bowl guaranteed to host the national championship game every four years. As with

455-413: A chance to play for the national championship. This occurred during the 1993 season . Nebraska and West Virginia both finished the season 11–0. West Virginia ranked #2 in the final regular season Coaches Poll (behind #1 Nebraska), but was ranked #3 in the final regular season AP Poll (behind #1 Florida State and #2 Nebraska). The margin between West Virginia and Florida State was large enough to drop

520-691: 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). 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

585-680: A national championship game and instead each gone to their respective traditional bowl. In later years, the Big 8, SEC, and SWC champions would be released to play in another bowl if it was necessary to force a "title game". For example, if the SEC and SWC champions were ranked first and second, the Cotton Bowl would have released the SWC champ to play in the Sugar Bowl, or the Sugar would have released

650-591: A semifinal game every three years through the 2022 season; all the teams playing in the bowl were selected by the CFP Selection Committee . With the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams in 2024, the Fiesta Bowl will become an annual feature of that playoff, along with the other New Year's Six bowls. The Fiesta Bowl has donated over $ 12 million to charity. In 2020, it donated $ 1 million in emergency relief during

715-569: A serious possibility. Nebraska (12–0) finished the regular season ranked #1 in both the AP and Coaches polls while Penn State (11–0) ranked #2 in both polls. Penn State had decided prior to the formation of the Bowl Coalition to give up its independent football status to join the Big Ten, a conference not part of the coalition and whose champion was contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl. Nebraska, as Big 8 champion, qualified automatically for

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780-461: A split championship if Miami won, but that Penn State's fate could be sealed before they even had a chance to play their game. In the end Nebraska defeated Miami to win the Orange Bowl and became consensus champions despite Penn State's win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl. One legacy of the Bowl Coalition was that it cemented the status of the Fiesta Bowl as a major bowl. The Fiesta Bowl was by far

845-550: The 1981–82 bowl game season, it matched the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the #6 Texas Longhorns of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Down by ten points, slight underdog Texas rallied in the fourth quarter to win, 14–12. Both teams entered the matchup with identical 9–1–1 records. The Longhorns were ranked #1 entering their fifth game of

910-497: 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). 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." Beyond

975-621: The COVID-19 pandemic . 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

1040-631: The Citrus Bowl ). The Orange, Sugar, Cotton, and Fiesta Bowls were "Tier 1 Bowls" under the Coalition agreement, and the Gator, Sun, and Blockbuster were "Tier 2 Bowls". The Orange, Sugar, and Cotton bowls retained their long-standing agreements to invite the Big 8, SEC, and SWC champions, respectively. According to the initial Bowl Coalition rules, if champions from these conferences were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, they would not have played each other in

1105-590: The College Football Playoff . The Fiesta Bowl will host a semifinal, alongside the Peach Bowl , again in 2025 and 2028. The 50th edition of the Fiesta Bowl featured #10 Iowa State defeating #25 Oregon Ducks 34-17. The game was behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona , with only player's family members admitted. In the 2022 Fiesta Bowl , Oklahoma State rallied from

1170-544: The Cotton Bowl Classic , 19–15. 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 BCS 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 the two non-AQ teams were placed in the same bowl game, the bowl was derisively referred to as

1235-661: The January 1986 edition . The Tangerine Bowl had previously reached agreement in March 1983 with the Florida Citrus Commission, a state government agency, to rename itself as the Florida Citrus Bowl. 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

1300-536: The Pac-10 Conference and the Fiesta Bowl's tie-in with the WAC ended as its champ went to the newly inaugurated Holiday Bowl . From then until the advent of the Bowl Coalition in 1992, Fiesta Bowl matchups typically featured runners-up of major conferences and/or major independents. The game continued to attract high quality matchups; beginning with the 1981 season, it shifted to New Year's Day alongside

1365-490: 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

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1430-555: 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. Had the two top-ranked teams in the Bowl Coalition not come from

1495-403: The "Separate But Equal Bowl", the "Quarantine Bowl", the "Fiasco Bowl", the "BCS Kids' Table", etc. Some had called for a boycott because of this arrangement. 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

1560-487: The 1992 season after there were co-national champions for both 1990 and 1991 . The agreement was in place for the 1992 , 1993 , and 1994 college football seasons. It was the predecessor of the Bowl Alliance (1995–1997), and later the Bowl Championship Series (1998–2013) and the College Football Playoff (2014–present). Since the Associated Press began crowning its national champion in 1968 following

1625-521: 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. The 1988 game returned to New Year's Day, and the 1989 game kicked off three hours later (2:30 p.m. MST on NBC) and opposite the Rose Bowl , which had switched networks to ABC . Before the 1991 game , several major universities declined invitations due to

1690-404: The Bowl Alliance, the Fiesta Bowl was given first chance at hosting the BCS' championship in 1999 ; they also hosted the game in 2003 . When the BCS reconstituted itself following the 2005 season, it began staging a separate national championship game , which rotated between BCS bowl sites. Beginning with the 2014 season, the Fiesta Bowl became a member of the College Football Playoff , hosting

1755-594: The Buckeyes coming out on top 31–24 to claim the 2002 national championship. The Fiesta Bowl was the first BCS bowl to have had a team from outside the automatic qualifying (AQ) BCS conferences (the Big 12 , Big Ten , Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Southeastern Conference (SEC), Pac-10 , Big East , and Notre Dame ). The 2005 game saw undefeated Utah from the Mountain West Conference become

1820-456: The Cougars were a near-unanimous pick as national champion at the end of the season. The Coalition's exclusion of mid-major conferences made it difficult for this to ever happen again. The Bowl Coalition's demise came about, in large part, as the result of two events that occurred in the 1994 season . First, the Southwest Conference , which had seen a marked decline in its quality of play over

1885-580: The Fiesta Bowl featured the first BCS National Championship Game , which Tennessee won over Florida State, 23–16. Starting with the 1999 season, the Big 12 Conference champion received an automatic bid to the Fiesta Bowl in years when it was not slated as the BCS title game, an arrangement that continued to the end of the BCS era. In 2002 , the Fiesta Bowl had the right to take the Pac-10 Conference Champion, should that team not reach

1950-564: The Fiesta Bowl, and the two universities participating in the Cactus Bowl , along with floats, equestrian units, and a seven-member queen and court. The parade began in 1973. Grand Marshals include celebrities from sports and entertainment. In 2018, the sponsor was changed from Bank of Arizona to Desert Financial. Appearances in the 2018 parade included Cindy McCain and the marching band from Salem High School in Salem, New Hampshire , which

2015-411: The Fiesta Bowl, with those contributions subsequently reimbursed to the employees. If the allegations were true, this would have been a violation of both state and federal campaign finance laws. Furthermore, as a non-profit organization, the Fiesta Bowl is prohibited from making political contributions of any kind. The Fiesta Bowl commissioned an "independent review" which found "no credible evidence that

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2080-546: The Fiesta would have hosted the "title game." The third place team from the SEC hosted the Gator Bowl. The system worked perfectly in its first year. Big East champion Miami was ranked first in both polls, while SEC champion Alabama was ranked second. As Big East champion, Miami was free to face Alabama in the 1993 Sugar Bowl , forcing the first bowl matchup between the consensus #1 and #2 teams since 1987. The Coalition

2145-408: The January 2024 edition (53 games, 106 total appearances). Won (5): Iowa State , LSU , Louisville , Oregon State , Utah Lost (11): Alabama , Baylor , BYU , Connecticut , Florida , Liberty , Missouri , Stanford , USC , Washington , Wyoming Tied (1): Arkansas Updated through the January 2024 edition (53 games, 106 total appearances). Source: As of the 2010–11 season,

2210-577: The Longhorns up 14–10 with 2:05 remaining. Alabama's Joey Jones returned the ensuing kickoff to the Texas 38-yard line, and Alabama quarterback Walter Lewis took over with 1:54 left. On the very next play, UT's William Graham picked off a Lewis pass at the one. The Longhorns took a safety to insure better field position and make the final margin 14–12. First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Texas climbed to second in

2275-545: The Mountaineers to third in the Bowl Coalition poll, forcing them to settle for a berth in the Sugar Bowl. The Coalition did not include the so-called " mid-major " Division I-A conferences ( WAC , Big West , and Mid-American ), nor any of the I-A independents besides Notre Dame. However, it was argued that most of these schools did not have schedules strong enough to be legitimate title contenders. For example, when BYU won

2340-536: The Orange Bowl. Since the #2 team in the polls was unavailable, the coalition invited the next highest ranked team, #3 Miami , to face Nebraska in its national championship game. The Orange Bowl was scheduled for New Year's night in Miami, while Penn State would face Oregon the following afternoon in the Rose Bowl (New Year's Day fell on a Sunday in 1995; when this happens bowls scheduled for January 1 are typically moved back one day). This meant that not only would there be

2405-527: The SEC champ to play in the Cotton. This did not happen in any of the three years, as either the Big East or ACC champion qualified for the championship in those years. The top "host" team played the top "at-large" team in the host team's affiliated bowl. Slots for the games were chosen by the "Bowl Poll," in which the points from the AP and Coaches polls were combined. If the top two teams were both "at-large", then

2470-568: The SEC, Big Eight or SWC, the Fiesta Bowl would have hosted the Bowl Coalition's "national championship game," though this never happened during the three years of the Bowl Coalition's run. When the Bowl Coalition was reconfigured as the Bowl Alliance for the 1995 season, the Fiesta was included as one of the three top games. In that season , it hosted the Bowl Alliance National Championship game featuring undefeated #1 Nebraska playing undefeated #2 Florida for

2535-445: The WAC champion. 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

2600-457: The agreement, bowl bids would be extended to the five member conference champions plus five at-large teams. The at-large teams would come from a pool of the member conference runners-up (SEC, Big 8, SWC, ACC, Big East), independent Notre Dame, the runner-up of the Pac-10 , and the SEC's third-place team (the SEC started playing a championship game in 1992 and the championship game loser was tied to

2665-477: The bidding and the game was set to be played on Friday, January 2, 1987—the night after the "big four" bowls of New Year's Day. Penn State won 14–10, 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 on January 1. The 1987 and 1989 games were two of four straight matchups of teams ranked in

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2730-468: The board immediately fired Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker, who had already been suspended pending the results of this investigation. 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. 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

2795-471: The bowl games, the two top-ranked teams going into the bowls had faced one other in a bowl only six times, most recently in the 1987 season . Due to often rigid existing bowl tie-ins, and various conference regulations, it was not uncommon that the two top-ranked teams at the end of the regular season would never meet on the field, even when there was a clear-cut #1 and #2. Following two consecutive seasons of split national championships ( 1990 and 1991 ), there

2860-454: The bowl's management engaged in any type of illegal or unethical conduct." 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

2925-607: The first BCS non-AQ school ever to play in a BCS game, easily defeating Big East champion Pittsburgh 35–7. In 2007 , the Fiesta Bowl game was played for the first time at the new then-named University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale , across the Phoenix metropolitan area from Sun Devil Stadium. The undefeated Boise State Broncos won by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 43–42 in overtime . It has been called one of

2990-416: The first Spanish U.S. telecast of the Fiesta Bowl. Bowl Coalition The College Football Bowl Coalition was formed through an agreement among NCAA Division I-A college football bowl games and conferences for the purpose of forcing a national championship game between the top two teams and to provide quality bowl game matchups for the champions of its member conferences. It was established for

3055-501: The game aired on ABC as part of the first BCS package, and from 1996 to 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

3120-414: The game along with the rest of the BCS and its successor, the College Football Playoff, exclusively airs on ESPN . 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 to 2006,

3185-457: 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. The 2010 Fiesta Bowl featured #6 Boise State defeating #4 TCU , 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

3250-517: The major bowl games—the Cotton , Orange , Sugar , and Rose . At the time, NBC had the broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Rose, and Orange; the Fiesta was played first and had a late morning kickoff (11:30 a.m. MST ). It was the first bowl game to acquire a corporate title sponsor , via an agreement with Sunkist Growers in September 1985, making the game the "Sunkist Fiesta Bowl" starting with

3315-427: The national championship in 1984 — the last time a team from a mid-major conference has won a consensus national championship to date ( UCF claimed a national championship in 2017) — some college football pundits argued that the Cougars had not played a legitimate schedule. BYU had only played one ranked team all season, and only two of the Cougars' opponents won more than seven games. Despite criticism of their schedule,

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3380-469: The national championship. Nebraska won the game 62–24, the largest win margin in the history of the national championship game, and the most points ever scored in a national championship game. 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 ,

3445-423: The past decade, announced it would dissolve after the 1995 season. Also, after finishing 10–1–1 in 1992 and 11–1 in 1993, Notre Dame slipped to 6–4–1 in 1994. They were still invited to the Fiesta Bowl that season, losing 41–24 to Colorado . The sudden fall of Notre Dame led some involved in the Bowl Coalition to be concerned about the possibility of Notre Dame failing to win the minimum six games to be eligible for

3510-451: The previous game gave Bryant his 315th win. Televised by CBS , the game kicked off shortly after 1 p.m. CST , a half hour after the Fiesta Bowl started on NBC . Trailing 10–0 in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns scored their first points with a quarterback draw by Robert Brewer on a third-and-long with 10:38 remaining. On Texas' next possession, Terry Orr scored from eight yards out to cap an eleven-play, eighty-yard drive to put

3575-517: The season, but they lost to Arkansas , and a tie to Houston three weeks later knocked them out of serious championship contention. Alabama was co-champion of the Southeastern Conference who had been ranked #2 after their first game, but a loss to Georgia Tech and a tie four weeks later knocked them out of contention, though they won the SEC title due to them having a perfect SEC record along with Georgia . Their win over Auburn

3640-554: 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 they would meet on the field. The Fiesta Bowl won

3705-459: The unappealing nature of a major bowl contest with two programs then perceived as underdogs , the appeal was further diminished as it was a rematch of the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl from the previous bowl season. 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

3770-572: The youngest of the "Tier 1" bowls. Indeed, it was the only "Tier 1" bowl that was less than a half-century old at the time, and was far newer than the "Tier 2" Gator and Sun Bowls. Notes: + Denotes Bowl Coalition National Championship Game 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 46th edition of the college football bowl game , played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas , Texas , on Friday, January 1. Part of

3835-477: Was a renewed interest in devising a system that would provide for a #1 vs. #2 national championship bowl game. The College Football Bowl Coalition consisted of five member conferences ( SEC , Big 8 , SWC , ACC , and Big East ) along with independent Notre Dame and seven bowl games ( Orange , Sugar , Cotton , Fiesta , Gator , Sun , and, for the 1992 season only, the Blockbuster Bowl ). Under

3900-550: Was close to $ 600,000 and that the bowl, in 2007 turned an $ 11.6 million profit. 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. The commission determined that $ 46,539 of illegal campaign contributions were made and

3965-692: Was flawed in several respects. Most significantly, it did not include the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-10 , both of whom were contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl . The Coalition's founders tried to get the Tournament of Roses Association to release the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions to play in a title game if one of them was ranked #1 or #2 in the Bowl Poll, but it refused to do so due to concerns about this potentially violating its television contract with ABC . The possibility also still existed that an undefeated and untied team would not get

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4030-441: Was hired to replace Junker. On February 22, 2012, former CEO John Junker pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge in the campaign financing matter, and two members of his former staff pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. Junker was to be sentenced soon after, facing up to 2.5 years in prison as the result of his plea, but his sentencing was repeatedly postponed in return for cooperation in other cases. On March 13, 2014, Junker

4095-546: 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 its being held on Sunday. In 1978, Arizona and Arizona State both joined

4160-402: Was sentenced to eight months in prison, with the sentence starting on June 13, 2014; he was released on February 11, 2015. On March 20, 2014, Junker was sentenced to three years of probation on state charges. One of the Fiesta Bowl events, the annual Fiesta Bowl Parade, takes place in downtown Phoenix . It features marching bands from high schools as well as the two universities participating in

4225-464: Was the group that had traveled the farthest for the parade. Team rankings entering games for which the Fiesta Bowl was designated a CFP semifinal are taken from CFP rankings. Otherwise, rankings are taken from the AP Poll (inaugurated in 1936 ), before each game was played. Italics denote a tie game. Source: An offensive MVP and defensive MVP are selected for each game. Updated through

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