The Houston Bowl was an NCAA -sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was played annually in Houston, Texas , from 2000 to 2005. For its first two years, the game was known as the galleryfurniture.com Bowl , named for the website of the sponsor, a Houston furniture chain operated by Jim McIngvale , better known as "Mattress Mack". In 2002, the Houston Bowl was born and later named the EV1.net Houston Bowl , after sponsor EV1.net , for the remainder of the game's existence.
5-603: The Houston Bowl marked the return of bowl games to Houston for the first time since the final Bluebonnet Bowl in 1987. The bowl played in two locations during its tenure. For the 2000 and 2001 games, Houston's Astrodome was the venue. In 2002, the game moved to Reliant Stadium , the home of the NFL 's Houston Texans . The bowl initially had tie-ins with the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA . The Big 12 extended their commitment in 2002 and again in 2005. Big 12 teams played in each of
10-651: The Southwest Conference played against an at-large opponent. The hometown Houston Cougars played in four games, all before joining the SWC. Runners-up from the Big 8 or Southeastern Conferences were also perennial participants. The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas. Bowl games returned to Houston in 2000 with the Houston Bowl , and then the Texas Bowl since 2006. The Bluebonnet Bowl
15-400: The bowl games were distributed to various Harris County charitable organizations. The game was discontinued following the 1987 season due to poor ticket sales and lack of a title sponsor. The Bluebonnet Bowl generally featured a team from Texas against an out-of-state opponent; 19 out of the 29 games involved a team from Texas. From 1980 to 1987, with the exception of 1981, a runner-up from
20-741: The six bowls, compiling a 4–2 record. After the 2005 game, the bowl failed to return EV1.net as a sponsor. Game management was turned over to the Texans, and the NFL Network changed the game's name to the Texas Bowl . While the 2006 playing of the Texas Bowl maintained continuity of having a Houston-based bowl game, NCAA records treat the Texas Bowl and Houston Bowl as separate games. Colorado (1–0) Oklahoma State (1–0) Texas A&M (1–0) Iowa State (0–1) Southern Miss (0–1) TCU (0–1) Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl
25-748: Was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas . A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 1959 through 1967, and again in 1985 and 1986. The game was played in the Astrodome from 1968 through 1984, as well in 1987. When held in the Astrodome, it was called the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl . The proceeds from
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