Sun Bowl

The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. Usually held near the end of December, games are played at the Sun Bowl stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. Since 2011, it has featured teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pac-12 Conference. This arrangement will continue through the 2025 season, with either Pac-12 schools, or Pac-12 "legacy schools" fulfilling previous Pac-12 bowl obligations for the next two seasons.
Since 2019, the game has been officially known as the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, after the mascot for Frosted Flakes. Previous sponsors include John Hancock Financial, Norwest Corporation, Wells Fargo, Helen of Troy Limited, and Hyundai Motor Company.

WWW Official Site

History

The first Sun Bowl was the 1935 edition, played on New Year's Day between Texas high school teams; the 1936 edition, played one year later, was the first Sun Bowl contested between college teams. In most of its early history, the game pitted the champion of the Border Conference against an at-large opponent. The first three editions were played at El Paso High School stadium, then switched to Kidd Field until the present stadium was ready in 1963. Through the 1957 season, the game was played on January 1 or January 2; since then, with the exception of the 1976 season, the game has been played in late December, with a majority of games played on or near New Year's Eve and on several occasions played on or about Christmas Day or Christmas Eve.

Notable games

The 1940 game set the record for fewest points scored, when the Arizona State Bulldogs football team|Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe Bulldogs] played the Catholic University Cardinals to a scoreless tie, the only 0–0 result in Sun Bowl history.
In advance of the 1949 game, Lafayette College turned down an invitation from the Sun Bowl Committee because the committee would not allow an African American player to participate. This bid rejection led to a large student demonstration on the Lafayette campus and in the city of Easton, Pennsylvania, against segregation.
Due to a freak snowstorm before the 1974 game, followed by warming temperatures as the sun created a rising steam from the field during the first half, the game was nicknamed the "Fog Bowl."
The 1992 game was the final head coaching appearance of 2001 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Grant Teaff of Baylor; his Bears won over Arizona Wildcats football team|Arizona].
The 1994 game was voted the greatest Sun Bowl ever played, and included four touchdowns by Priest Holmes, as Texas defeated North Carolina Tar Heels football team|North Carolina], 35–31.
The 2005 game set the record for most points scored, as UCLA Bruins football team|UCLA] defeated Northwestern Wildcats football team|Northwestern], 50–38.
The 2011 game is the only Sun Bowl decided in overtime ; Utah defeated Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|Georgia Tech], 30–27.
The 2020 edition of the bowl was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On December 26, 2021, the Miami Hurricanes announced they would not be able to play in the 2021 edition due to COVID-19 issues so organizers stated they would try to secure a replacement team to face the Washington State Cougars football team|Washington State Cougars]. The following day, the Central Michigan Chippewas were named as the Sun Bowl replacement team. The Chippewas had originally been scheduled to face the 2021 [Boise State Broncos football team|Boise State Broncos] in the Arizona Bowl, until Boise State withdrew from that bowl due to COVID-19 issues.

Sponsorship

The bowl's first title sponsor was John Hancock Financial, who entered a three-year, $1.5 million partnership in June 1986. This came at a time that corporate sponsorship was not common for bowl games, and followed the Fiesta Bowl entering a sponsorship agreement that had made its January 1986 edition the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl. In March 1989, with Sun Bowl organizers and John Hancock Financial negotiating a renewal of the sponsorship agreement, it was reported that an extension might involve renaming the bowl. That came to pass in June 1989, with the annual game changing its name to John Hancock Bowl. Cited as the reason for the change was that, under the prior agreement, the sponsor's name "wasn't mentioned enough in national media to justify the expense." Even after the formal name change, some newspapers continued to refer to it as the Sun Bowl. Five editions of the game were staged as the John Hancock Bowl, from 1989 through 1993. After the 1993 playing, John Hancock Financial reduced its support of the bowl game, to dedicate more of its promotional budget to the 1996 Summer Olympics. The name reverted to Sun Bowl, and to ensure the game would continue, the El Paso city council allocated $600,000 to cover expenses in case of a shortfall.
Subsequent title sponsorship came from Norwest Corporation, which then merged into Wells Fargo, El Pasobased Helen of Troy Limited—using its brand names of Vitalis and Brut —and Hyundai Motor Company.
In August 2019, it was announced that Kellogg's had been named the new title sponsor, and that the game would be branded as the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl—referencing Tony the Tiger, the mascot of the company's cereal brand Frosted Flakes. In 2023, Kellogg's spun-off its cereal business as WK Kellogg Co. In July 2024, the Tony the Tiger sponsorship was renewed "for at least two more years." During 2025, WK Kellogg Co was acquired by Italian confectioner Ferrero International SpA.

Conference tie-ins

Until the demise of the Border Conference in 1962, the Sun Bowl usually featured the champion of that conference, which was considered the "host" team, against an at-large team.
The bowl was later aligned with the Big Ten Conference, then established a longtime partnership with the Pacific-10 Conference, commonly known as the Pac-10 and later renamed the Pac-12. In 2010, the bowl entered a four-year contract with the Atlantic Coast Conference along with the Pac-10. A later six-year contract with the ACC and Pac-12 ran through the 2025 edition—under that contract:

For the ACC, the Sun Bowl was placed in the second group of bowls behind the College Football Playoff. The first group was the Holiday Bowl, Pop-Tarts Bowl, and Gator Bowl. The Sun Bowl was grouped with the Pinstripe Bowl and Duke's Mayo Bowl in the second group.
For the Pac-12, the Sun Bowl was grouped with five other bowls behind the CFP.

Game results

Three editions of the bowl ended in a tie—1936, 1940, and 1985—they are denoted by italics in the below table; overtime has been used in bowl games since the 1995–96 bowl season. The inaugural game in 1935 was contested between high school teams. For sponsorship reasons, the 1989 through 1993 editions were known as the John Hancock Bowl.
Rankings are based on the AP poll, prior to game being played.
Note: the bowl's game programs indicate that organizers consider the unplayed 2020 game to have been the 87th edition, as the 2021 game is referred to as the 88th edition, the 2022 game as the 89th edition, etc.
Source:

Awards

C. M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player Trophy

Awarded since 1950; named after the first Sun Bowl Association president, Dr. C. M. Hendricks.

Two players have been two-time MVPs; Charley Johnson and Billy Stevens.

Game	MVP	Team	Position
1950	Harvey Gabrel	Texas Western	HB
1951	Bill Cross	West Texas State	E
1952	Junior Arteburn	Texas Tech	QB
1953	Tom McCormick	Pacific	HB
1954	Dick Shinaut	Texas Western	QB
1955	Jesse Whittenton	Texas Western	QB
1956	Jim Crawford	Wyoming	HB
1957	Claude Austin	George Washington	RB
1958	Ken Porco	Louisville	RB
1958	Leonard Kucewski	Wyoming	G
1959	Charley Johnson	New Mexico A&M	QB
1960	Charley Johnson	New Mexico State	QB
1961	Billy Joe	Villanova	FB
1962	Jerry Logan	West Texas State	HB
1963	Bob Berry	Oregon	QB
1964	Preston Ridlehuber	Georgia	QB
1965	Billy Stevens	Texas Western	QB
1966	Jim Kiick	Wyoming	TB
1967	Billy Stevens	UTEP	QB
1968	Buddy McClinton	Auburn	DB
1969	Paul Rogers	Nebraska	HB
1970	Rock Perdoni	Georgia Tech	DT
1971	Bert Jones	LSU	QB
1972	George Smith	Texas Tech	HB
1973	Ray Bybee	Missouri	FB
1974	Terry Vitrano	Mississippi State	FB
1975	Robert Haygood	Pittsburgh	QB
1977	Tony Franklin	Texas A&M	K
1977	Charles Alexander	LSU	TB
1978	Johnny "Lam" Jones	Texas	RB
1979	Paul Skansi	Washington	WR
1980	Jeff Quinn	Nebraska	QB
1981	Darrell Shepard	Oklahoma	QB
1982	Rob Rogers	North Carolina	TB
1982	Ethan Horton	North Carolina	TB
1982	Brooks Barwick	North Carolina	TB
1983	Walter Lewis	Alabama	QB
1984	Rick Badanjek	Maryland	FB
1985	Max Zendejas	Arizona	K
1986	Cornelius Bennett	Alabama	DE

Game	MVP	Team	Position
1987	Thurman Thomas	Oklahoma State	RB
1988	David Smith	Alabama	QB
1989	Alex Van Pelt	Pittsburgh	QB
1990	Courtney Hawkins	Michigan State	WR
1991	Arnold Ale	UCLA	LB
1992	Melvin Bonner	Baylor	WR
1993	Cale Gundy	Oklahoma	RB
1994	Priest Holmes	Texas	RB
1995	Sedrick Shaw	Iowa	RB
1996	Chad Hutchinson	Stanford	QB
1997	Mike Martin	Arizona State	RB
1998	Basil Mitchell	TCU	TB
1999	Billy Cockerham	Minnesota	QB
2000	Freddie Mitchell	UCLA	WR
2001	Lamont Thompson	Washington State	S
2002	Kyle Orton	Purdue	QB
2003	Samie Parker	Oregon	WR
2004	Sam Keller	Arizona State	QB
2005	Kahlil Bell	UCLA	RB
2005	Chris Markey	UCLA	RB
2006	Matt Moore	Oregon State	QB
2007	Jonathan Stewart	Oregon	RB
2008	Victor Butler	Oregon State	DE
2009	Ryan Broyles	Oklahoma	WR
2010	Michael Floyd	Notre Dame	WR
2011	John White IV	Utah	RB
2012	Rod Sweeting	Georgia Tech	CB
2013	Brett Hundley	UCLA	QB
2013	Jordan Zumwalt	UCLA	LB
2014	Demario Richard	Arizona State	RB
2015	Luke Falk	Washington State	QB
2016	Solomon Thomas	Stanford	DE
2017	Nyheim Hines	NC State	RB
2018	Cameron Scarlett	Stanford	RB
2019	Jayden Daniels	Arizona State	QB
2021	Lew Nichols III	Central Michigan	RB
2022	Rodney Hammond Jr.	Pittsburgh	RB
2023	Jordan Faison	Notre Dame	WR
2024	Harrison Bailey	Louisville	QB
2025

Source:

Jimmy Rogers Jr. Most Valuable Lineman Trophy

Awarded since 1961; named after former Sun Bowl president Jimmy Rogers Jr.

Game	Player	Team	Position
1961	Rich Ross	Villanova	G
1962	Don Hoovler	Ohio	G
1963	Dun Hughes	SMU	G
1964	Jim Wilson	Georgia	T
1965	Ronny Nixon	TCU	T
1966	Jerry Durling	Wyoming	MG
1967	Fred Carr	UTEP	LB
1968	David Campbell	Auburn	T
1969	Jerry Murtaugh	Nebraska	LB
1970	Bill Flowers	Georgia Tech	LB
1971	Matt Blair	Iowa State	LB
1972	Ecomet Burley	Texas Tech	DT
1973	John Kelsey	Missouri	TE
1974	Jimmy Webb	Mississippi State	DT
1975	Al Romano	Pittsburgh	MG
1977	Edgar Fields	Texas A&M	DT
1977	Gordon Ceresino	Stanford	LB
1978	Dwight Jefferson	Texas	DT
1979	Doug Martin	Washington	DT
1980	Jimmy Williams	Nebraska	DE
1981	Rick Bryan	Oklahoma	DT
1982	Ronnie Mullins	Texas	DB
1983	Wes Neighbors	Alabama	C
1984	Carl Zander	Tennessee	LB
1985	Peter Anderson	Georgia	C
1986	Steve Alvord	Washington	MG
1987	Darren Warren	West Virginia	LB
1988	Derrick Thomas	Alabama	LB
1989	Anthony Williams	Texas A&M	LB
1990	Craig Hartsuyker	USC	LB
1991	Mike Ploskey	Illinois	DT
1992	Rob Waldrop	Arizona	NT
1993	Shawn Jackson	Texas Tech	DE
1994	Blake Brockermeyer	Texas	OT
1995	Jared DeVries	Iowa	DL
1996	Kailee Wong	Stanford	DE
1997	Jeremy Staat	Arizona State	DT
1998	London Dunlap	TCU	DE
1999	Dyron Russ	Minnesota	DT
2000	Oscar Cabrera	UCLA	OG
2001	Akin Ayodele	Purdue	DE
2002	Shaun Phillips	Purdue	DE
2003	Junior Siavaii	Oregon	DT
2004	Brandon Villareal	Purdue	DT
2005	Kevin Mims	Northwestern	DT
2006	Xzavie Jackson	Missouri	DE
2007	Fenuki Tupou	Oregon	OT
2008	Greg Romeus	Pittsburgh	DE
2009	Gerald McCoy	Oklahoma	DE
2010	Zach Martin	Notre Dame	OT
2011	Star Lotulelei	Utah	DT
2012	Jay Finch	Georgia Tech	C
2013	Kenny Clark	UCLA	DT
2014	Marcus Hardison	Arizona State	DE
2015	Hercules Mata'afa	Washington State	DE
2016	Nazair Jones	North Carolina	DT
2017	Kentavius Street	NC State	DE
2018	Thomas Booker	Stanford	DE
2019	Robert Cooper	Florida State	DT
2021	Ron Stone Jr.	Washington State	DE
2022	Jay Toia	UCLA	DL
2023	Jordan Botelho	Notre Dame	DL
2024	Jordan Guerad	Louisville	DL
2025

Source:

John Folmer Most Valuable Special Teams Player Trophy

Awarded since 1994; named after former Sun Bowl president John Folmer.
Positions: P=Punter, K=Kicker, PR=Punt returner, KR=Kickoff returner

Game	Player	Team	Position	Statistics	Ref.
1994	Marcus Wall	North Carolina	KR/PR	3 returns, long 82
1995	Brion Hurley	Iowa	K/P	3/3 FG, 0/0 XP
1996	Troy Walters	Stanford	PR	5 returns, long 24
1997	Tim Dwight	Iowa	KR/PR	6 returns, long 26
1998	Adam Abrams	USC	K	2/2 FG, 1/1 XP
1999	Ryan Rindels	Minnesota	P	7 punts, avg. 46.1
2000	Michael Bennett	Wisconsin	KR	2 returns, long 54
2001	Drew Dunning	Washington State	K	4/4 FG, 3/3 XP
2002	Anthony Chambers	Purdue	KR/PR	3 returns, long 51
2003	Jared Siegel	Oregon	K	3/3 FG, 3/3 XP
2004	Dave Brytus	Purdue	P	8 punts, avg. 48.9
2005	Brandon Breazell	UCLA	KR	2 TD returns
2006	Jeff Wolfert	Missouri	K	1/1 FG, 5/5 XP
2007	Matt Evensen	Oregon	K	2/2 FG, 5/5 XP
2008	Johnny Hekker	Oregon State	P	10 punts, avg. 45.0
2009	Ryan Broyles	Oklahoma	PR	4 returns, long 42
2010	David Ruffer	Notre Dame	K	3/4 FG, 3/3 XP
2011	DeVonte Christopher	Utah	KR	2 returns, long 68
2012	Jamal Golden	Georgia Tech	KR/PR	3 returns, long 56
2013	Kaʻimi Fairbairn	UCLA	K	0/1 FG 6/6 XP
2014	Kalen Ballage	Arizona State	KR	3 returns, long 96
2015	Erik Powell	Washington State	K	2/2 FG, 2/2 XP
2016	Conrad Ukropina	Stanford	K	4/5 FG, 1/1 XP
2017	Kyle Bambard	NC State	K	1/1 FG, 7/7 XP
2018	Alex Kessman	Pittsburgh	K	2/2 FG, 1/1 XP
2019	Cristian Zendejas	Arizona State	K	4/4 FG, 0/0 XP
2021	Marshall Meeder	Central Michigan	K	3/5 FG, 1/1 XP
2022	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	K	5/5 FG, 2/2 XP
2023	Spencer Shrader	Notre Dame	K	1/2 FG, 5/5 XP
2024	Carter Schwartz	Louisville	P	6 punts, avg. 43.7
2025

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2025 edition, excluding the unplayed 87th edition of December 2020.
;Teams with multiple appearances

Rank	Team	Appearances	Record	Win pct.
1	Texas Tech	9	1–8
T2	UTEP	8	5–3
T2	Arizona State	8	4–3–1
T4	Stanford	5	4–1
T4	UCLA	5	3–2
T4	Pittsburgh	5	3–2
T4	North Carolina	5	2–3
T4	Washington	5	1–4
T9	Oregon	4	3–1
T9	Texas	4	2–2
T9	Hardin–Simmons	4	1–2–1
T12	Alabama	3	3–0
T12	Oklahoma	3	3–0
T12	Wyoming	3	3–0
T12	New Mexico State	3	2–0–1
T12	Georgia Tech	3	2–1
T12	Washington State	3	2–1
T12	West Virginia	3	2–1
T12	Oregon State	3	2–1
T12	Georgia	3	1–1–1
T12	New Mexico	3	1–2
T12	Purdue	3	1–2
T12	Arizona	3	0–2–1
T12	Florida State	3	0–3
T12	USC	3	0–3

Rank	Team	Appearances	Record	Win pct.
T26	Nebraska	2	2–0
T26	Notre Dame	2	2–0
T26	Southwestern	2	2–0
T26	Utah	2	2–0
T26	West Texas State	2	2–0
T26	Louisville	2	2–0
T26	Auburn	2	1–1
T26	Cincinnati	2	1–1
T26	High school teams	2	1–1
T26	Iowa	2	1–1
T26	LSU	2	1–1
T26	Maryland	2	1–1
T26	Michigan State	2	1–1
T26	Minnesota	2	1–1
T26	Mississippi State	2	1–1
T26	Missouri	2	1–1
T26	Pacific	2	1–1
T26	TCU	2	1–1
T26	Texas A&M	2	1–1
T26	Duke	2	1–1
T26	Miami (Florida)	2	0–2
T26	Mississippi Southern	2	0–2
T26	SMU	2	0–2
T26	Virginia Tech	2	0–2

;Teams with a single appearance
Won : Baylor, Central Michigan, George Washington, Miami (Ohio), NC State, Oklahoma State, Second [Air Force Bombers football|Second Air Force], Tulsa, Villanova, Western Reserve, Wisconsin

Lost : Army, Denver, Drake, Florida, Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, North Texas State, Northwestern, Ohio, Ole Miss, Florida Bulls football|South Florida], Tennessee, UNAM, Utah State, Wichita

Tied : Catholic
;Notes

UTEP's record includes appearances when it was known as Texas Mines and Texas Western.
New Mexico State's record includes appearances when it was known as New Mexico A&M.
California and Colorado are the only legacy Pac-12 members that have not appeared in the Sun Bowl.
Northern Arizona is the only former member of the Border Conference that has not appeared in the Sun Bowl.

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2025 edition, excluding the unplayed 87th edition of December 2020.

Games marked with an asterisk were played in January of the following calendar year.
The first edition of the game, played in January 1935, was contested between high school teams.
Records are based on teams' conferences at the time each game was played.
Conferences that are defunct or not currently active in FBS are marked in italics.
The American Conference retains the conference charter of the Big East following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines. Big East appearances: South Florida and Pittsburgh.
The Pac-12's record includes appearances by teams when the conference was the Pac-8 and Pac-10.
The Mountain States Conferences was popularly known as the Skyline Conference from 1947 through 1962.
Independent appearances : Army, Catholic, Cincinnati, Drake, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Hardin–Simmons, Louisville, Miami, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Oregon, Pacific, Pittsburgh, Second Air Force, Southern Miss, UNAM, UTEP, Villanova, West Texas State, and West Virginia.

Game records

Team	Record, Team vs. Opponent	Year
Most points scored	56, Oregon vs. South Florida	2007
Most points scored	88, UCLA vs. Northwestern	2005
Most points scored	39, Arizona State vs. Duke	2025
Fewest points allowed	0, most recent: Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh	2008
Largest margin of victory	42, Texas vs. Maryland	1978
Total yards	619, Arizona State vs. Duke	2025
Rushing yards	455, Mississippi State vs. North Carolina	1974
Passing yards	419, Purdue vs. Washington State	2001
First downs	33, Northwestern vs. UCLA	2005
Fewest yards allowed	, Southwestern vs. UNAM	1945
Fewest rushing yards allowed	, TCU vs. USC	1998
Fewest passing yards allowed	, Southwestern vs. UNAM	1945
Individual	Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent	Year
All-purpose yards	282, Jonathan Stewart, Oregon vs. South Florida 253 rush, 29 return	2007
Touchdowns	4, shared by: Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia Priest Holmes, Texas vs. North Carolina Demario Richard, Arizona State vs. Duke	1987 1994 2014
Rushing yards	253, Jonathan Stewart, Oregon vs. South Florida	2007
Rushing touchdowns	4, shared by: Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia Priest Holmes, Texas vs. North Carolina	1987 1994
Passing yards	419, Kyle Orton, Purdue vs. Washington	2002
Passing touchdowns	4, shared by: Matt Moore, Oregon State vs. Missouri Justin Roper, Oregon vs. South Florida Darian Mensah Duke vs. Arizona State	2006 2007 2025
Receiving yards	200, Samie Parker, Oregon vs. Minnesota	2003
Receiving touchdowns	3, Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma vs. Stanford	2009
Tackles	24, Carl Zander, Tennessee vs. Maryland 14 solo, 10 assist	1984
Sacks	4.5, Reggie McKenzie, Tennessee vs. Maryland	1984
Interceptions	3, shared by: Buddy McClinton, Auburn vs. Arizona Harrison Smith, Notre Dame vs. Miami	1968 2010
Long Plays	Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent	Year
Touchdown run	94, Hascall Henshaw, Arizona State vs. Western Reserve	1941
Touchdown pass	91, James Blackman to Tamorrion Terry, Florida State vs. Arizona State	2019
Kickoff return	100, Peter Panuska, Tennessee vs. Maryland	1984
Punt return	82, Marcus Wall, North Carolina vs. Texas	1994
Interception return	91, Don "Skip" Hoovler, Ohio vs. West Texas	1962
Fumble return
Punt	78, Scott Blanton, Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech	1993
Field goal	62, Tony Franklin, Texas A&M vs. Florida	1977
Miscellaneous	Record, Teams	Year
Largest attendance	54,021, Notre Dame vs. Miami	2010

Source:

Media coverage

NBC broadcast the Sun Bowl nationally in 1964 and 1966. From 1968 until the present, the game has been broadcast by CBS Sports. The Sun Bowl's contract with CBS Sports is the longest continuous relationship between a bowl game and one television network.