The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since December 2, 1934, and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2009. Along with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl, the Sugar Bowl is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl (first played 1902, played annually since 1916). [1] The Sugar Bowl is also a member of the Bowl Championship Series. Presently, its official title is the Allstate Sugar Bowl after its current sponsor. The Sugar Bowl hosted the BCS National Championship Game in 2000 and 2004. However, since the 2006 season, the BCS National Championship Game has been a stand-alone event one week following the New Year's Day bowl games (including the Sugar Bowl). Under the current BCS format, the Sugar Bowl itself will not host the BCS National Championship Game, but the Superdome will be one of the four rotating stadiums used to host the BCS National Championship Game. The Sugar Bowl hosts the Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion unless (under the current BCS alignment) the team is selected to play in the national championship game; in that case the Sugar Bowl can select a team at-large from any conference as the host team. The SEC champion has participated in every standalone BCS National Championship Game since 2006; the Sugar Bowl has used its replacement selection on an SEC at-large team. As such, an SEC team has played in the Sugar Bowl every year since the 2000–01 game. The payout for the 2006 game was $14–17 million per participating team.

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History

In 1890, Pasadena, California held its first Tournament of Roses Parade to showcase the city's mild weather compared to the harsh winters in northern cities. As one of the organizers said: "In New York, people are buried in snow. Here, our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise." In 1902, the annual festival was enhanced by adding a football game. ^[2]

In 1926, leaders in Miami, Florida decided to do the same with a "Fiesta of the American Tropics" that was centered around a New Year's Day football game. Although a second "Fiesta" was never held, Miami leaders later revived the idea with the "Palm Festival" (with the slogan "Have a Green Christmas in Miami"). The football game and associated festivities of the Palm Festival were soon named the "Orange Bowl." ^[3]

In New Orleans, Louisiana, the idea of a New Year's Day football game was first presented in 1927 by Colonel James M. Thomson, publisher of the New Orleans Item , and Sports Editor Fred Digby. Every year thereafter, Digby repeated called for action, and even came up with the name "Sugar Bowl" for his proposed football game. ^[4]

By 1935, enough support had been garnered for the first Sugar Bowl. The game was played in Tulane Stadium, which had been built in 1926 on Tulane University's campus (before 1871, Tulane's campus was Paul Foucher's Plantation, where Foucher's father-in-law, Etienne de Bore, had first granulated sugar from cane syrup). Warren V. Miller, the first president of the New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Association, guided the Sugar Bowl through its difficult formative years of 1934 and 1935.

Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl, where Bobby Grier's Pitt Panthers would meet the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There was controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to integration. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Tulane Stadium hosted the game from 1935 through 1975. It has been played in the Louisiana Superdome since 1976. The Sugar Bowl's corporate title sponsor was USF&G Financial Services from 1987 to 1995 and Nokia cellular telephones of Finland from 1995 to 2006. In March 2006 Allstate Insurance was announced as the new title sponsor. ABC Sports televised the game from 1969 through 2006. Since 2007 FOX Sports has televised the game as a part of their contract with the BCS. ESPN will start airing the game with the 2010–11 season, after outbidding FOX for the broadcasting rights. ^[8]

The 2006 Sugar Bowl game was played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia because of the extensive damage the Louisiana Superdome suffered as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The Sugar Bowl has since returned to the refurbished Superdome.

Prior to the BCS, the game traditionally hosted the Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion against a top-tier at-large opponent. Under the current BCS format, the Sugar Bowl continues to host the SEC champion against a top-tier at-large opponent, unless the SEC champion goes to the BCS National Championship Game. ^[9]

The Sugar Bowl maintains an archive of past programs, images, newsreels, and other materials. The archive, originally housed in the Superdome, survived Hurricane Katrina, but a more secure home was needed. During the summer of 2007, the Sugar Bowl donated its materials to The Historic New Orleans Collection, designating it the permanent home of its archive.

Previous results

Italics denote a tie game.
+ - Denotes Bowl Coalition Championship game
^ - Denotes Bowl Alliance Championship game
* - Denotes BCS National Championship Game
† - Played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia because of Hurricane Katrina

Annual	Date Played	Winning Team		Losing Team
1st	January 1, 1935		20		14
2nd	January 1, 1936		3		2
3rd	January 1, 1937		21		14
4th	January 1, 1938		6		0
5th	January 2, 1939	TCU	15		7
6th	January 1, 1940	Texas A&M	14		13
7th	January 1, 1941		19		13
8th	January 1, 1942		2		0
9th	January 1, 1943		14		7
10th	January 1, 1944		20		18
11th	January 1, 1945		29		26
12th	January 1, 1946	Oklahoma State	33		13
13th	January 1, 1947	Georgia	20		10
14th	January 1, 1948	Texas	27		7
15th	January 1, 1949	Oklahoma	14		6
16th	January 2, 1950	Oklahoma	35		0
17th	January 1, 1951	Kentucky	13	Oklahoma	7
18th	January 1, 1952	Maryland	28	Tennessee	13
19th	January 1, 1953		24		7
20th	January 1, 1954		42	West Virginia	19
21st	January 1, 1955		21		0
22nd	January 2, 1956		7		0
23rd	January 1, 1957		13	Tennessee	7
24th	January 1, 1958		39	Texas	7
25th	January 1, 1959	LSU	7		0
26th	January 1, 1960	Mississippi	21	LSU	0
27th	January 2, 1961	Mississippi	14		6
28th	January 1, 1962	Alabama	10	Arkansas	3
29th	January 1, 1963		17	Arkansas	13
30th	January 1, 1964	Alabama	12		7
31st	January 1, 1965		13		10
32nd	January 1, 1966		20	Florida	18
33rd	January 2, 1967	Alabama	34		7
34th	January 1, 1968		20	Wyoming	13
35th	January 1, 1969	Arkansas	16	Georgia	2
36th	January 1, 1970		27	Arkansas	22
37th	January 1, 1971		34		13
38th	January 1, 1972	Oklahoma	40	Auburn	22
39th	December 31, 1972		14	Penn State	0
40th	December 31, 1973	Notre Dame	24	Alabama	23
41st	December 31, 1974	Nebraska	13	Florida	10
42nd	December 31, 1975	Alabama	13	Penn State	6
43rd	January 1, 1977	Pittsburgh	27	Georgia	3
44th	January 2, 1978	Alabama	35	Ohio State	6
45th	January 1, 1979	Alabama	14	Penn State	7
46th	January 1, 1980	Alabama	24	Arkansas	9
47th	January 1, 1981	Georgia	17	Notre Dame	10
48th	January 1, 1982	Pittsburgh	24	Georgia	20
49th	January 1, 1983	Penn State	27	Georgia	23
50th	January 2, 1984		9		7
51st	January 1, 1985	Nebraska	28		10
52nd	January 1, 1986	Tennessee	35		7
53rd	January 1, 1987	Nebraska	30		15
54th	January 1, 1988		16	Syracuse	16
55th	January 2, 1989		13		7
56th	January 1, 1990	Miami	33	Alabama	25
57th	January 1, 1991	Tennessee	23	Virginia	22
58th	January 1, 1992	Notre Dame	39	Florida	28
59th+	January 1, 1993	Alabama	34	Miami	13
60th	January 1, 1994	Florida	41	West Virginia	7
61st	January 2, 1995		23	Florida	17
62nd	December 31, 1995		28		10
63rd^	January 2, 1997	Florida	52		20
64th	January 1, 1998		31	Ohio State	14
65th	January 1, 1999	Ohio State	24	Texas A&M	14
66th*	January 4, 2000	Florida State	46	Virginia Tech	29
67th	January 2, 2001		37	Florida	20
68th	January 1, 2002	LSU	47	Illinois	34
69th	January 1, 2003	Georgia	26		13
70th*	January 4, 2004	LSU	21	Oklahoma	14
71st	January 3, 2005	Auburn	16	Virginia Tech	13
72nd†	January 2, 2006	West Virginia	38	Georgia	35
73rd	January 3, 2007	LSU	41	Notre Dame	14
74th	January 1, 2008	Georgia	41	Hawaiʻi	10
75th	January 2, 2009	Utah	31	Alabama	17

Most Valuable Players (Miller-Digby Award)

Year played	MVP	Team	Position
1948	Bobby Layne	Texas	QB
1949	Jack Mitchell	Oklahoma	QB
1950	Leon Heath	Oklahoma	FB
1951	Walt Yowarsky	Kentucky	T
1952	Ed Modzelewski	Maryland	FB
1953	Leon Hardemann	Georgia Tech	HB
1954	Pepper Rodgers	Georgia Tech	QB
1955	Joe Gattuso	Navy	FB
1956	Franklin Brooks	Georgia Tech	G
1957	Del Shofner	Baylor	HB
1958	Raymond Brown	Mississippi	QB
1959	Billy Cannon	LSU	HB
1960	Bobby Franklin	Mississippi	QB
1961	Jake Gibbs	Mississippi	QB
1962	Mike Fracchia	Alabama	FB
1963	Glynn Griffin	Mississippi	QB
1964	Tim Davis	Alabama	K
1965	Doug Moreau	LSU	FL
1966	Steve Spurrier	Florida	QB
1967	Ken Stabler	Alabama	QB
1968	Glenn Smith	LSU	HB
1969	Chuck Dicus	Arkansas	FL
1970	Archie Manning	Mississippi	QB
1971	Bobby Scott	Tennessee	QB
1972	Jack Mildren	Oklahoma	QB
1973	Tinker Owens	Oklahoma	FL
1974	Tom Clements	Notre Dame	QB
1975	Tony Davis	Nebraska	FB
1976	Richard Todd	Alabama	QB
1977	Matt Cavanaugh	Pittsburgh	QB
1978	Jeff Rutledge	Alabama	QB
1979	Barry Krauss	Alabama	LB
1980	Major Ogilvie	Alabama	RB
1981	Herschel Walker	Georgia	RB
1982	Dan Marino	Pittsburgh	QB
1983	Todd Blackledge	Penn State	QB
1984	Bo Jackson	Auburn	RB
1985	Craig Sundberg	Nebraska	QB
1986	Daryl Dickey	Tennessee	QB
1987	Steve Taylor	Nebraska	QB
1988	Don McPherson	Syracuse	QB
1989	Sammie Smith	Florida State	RB
1990	Craig Erickson	Miami (Fla.)	QB
1991	Andy Kelly	Tennessee	QB
1992	Jerome Bettis	Notre Dame	FB
1993	Derrick Lassic	Alabama	RB
1994	Errict Rhett	Florida	RB
1995	Warrick Dunn	Florida State	RB
1996	Bryan Still	Virginia Tech	WR
1997	Danny Wuerffel	Florida	QB
1998	E. G. Green	Florida State	WR
1999	David Boston	Ohio State	WR
2000	Peter Warrick	Florida State	WR
2001	Ken Dorsey	Miami (Fla.)	QB
2002	Rohan Davey	LSU	QB
2003	Musa Smith	Georgia	TB
2004	Justin Vincent	LSU	RB
2005	Jason Campbell	Auburn	QB
2006	Steve Slaton	West Virginia	RB
2007	JaMarcus Russell	LSU	QB
2008	Marcus Howard	Georgia	DE
2009	Brian Johnson	Utah	QB

Broadcasting

As of the 2006–07 season, the BCS will air primarily on FOX while only the Rose Bowl will continue to be shown on ABC. FOX will continue to air 4 BCS Bowl Games (Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game) through the 2009-2010 season. Starting with the 2010-2011 season, ESPN will start airing the games, out bidding FOX for the rights to the games. ^[8]

From 1999-2006, the game aired on ABC as part of its BCS package, where it had also been televised from 1969 through 1998. The Sugar Bowl was the only Bowl Alliance game to stick with ABC following the 1995, 1996 and 1997 seasons; the Fiesta and Orange Bowls were televised by CBS. Prior to that, NBC aired the game for several years.

The game is also broadcast nationally on ESPN Radio.

See also

• List of college bowl games

References

1. Sugar Bowl
2. Tournament of Roses History
3. History of the Orange Bowl
4. Sugar Bowl History
5. Mulé, Marty - A Time For Change: Bobby Grier And The 1956 Sugar Bowl. Black Athlete Sports Network, December 28, 2005
6. *Zeise, Paul - Bobby Grier broke bowl's color line. The Panthers' Bobby Grier was the first African-American to play in Sugar Bowl Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 07, 2005
7. Thamel, Pete - Grier Integrated a Game and Earned the World's Respect. New York Times, Published: January 1, 2006.
8. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3709030 Fox pulls out of bidding for next round of BCS games
9. Selection Procedures
10. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3709030 Fox pulls out of bidding for next round of BCS games