Cactus Bowl

The Cactus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989.

This article is about the bowl game played in Arizona and formerly sponsored by Cheez-It. For the bowl game played in Florida currently sponsored by Cheez-It, see Cheez-It Bowl. For the Division II all-star game played from 2001 through 2011, see Cactus Bowl (Division II).

"Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl" redirects here. For the bowl game previously known as Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, see Citrus Bowl.

Cactus Bowl
Stadium	Chase Field
Location	Phoenix, Arizona
Previous stadiums	Arizona Stadium (1989–1999) Bank One Ballpark (2000–2005) Sun Devil Stadium (2006–2015)
Previous locations	Tucson, Arizona (1989–1999) Phoenix, Arizona (2000–2005) Tempe, Arizona (2006–2015)
Operated	1989–present
Conference tie-ins	Big 12, Pac-12
Previous conference tie-ins	WAC (1990–1997) Big 12 (1998–2001) Big East (1998–2005) Pac-10 (2002–2005) Big 12 (2006–2013) Big Ten (2006–2013)
Payout	US$1,625,560 (2019)[1]
Sponsors
Domino's Pizza (1990–1991) Weiser Lock (1992–1995) Insight Enterprises (1997–2011) Buffalo Wild Wings (2012–2013) TicketCity (2015) Motel 6 (2016, 2 games) Kellogg's Cheez-It (2018–2019)
Former names
Copper Bowl (1989) Domino's Pizza Copper Bowl (1990–1991) Weiser Lock Copper Bowl (1992–1995) Copper Bowl (1996) Insight.com Bowl (1997–2001) Insight Bowl (2002–2011) Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (2012–2013) TicketCity Cactus Bowl (2015) Motel 6 Cactus Bowl (2016, 2 games) Cactus Bowl (2017) Cheez-It Bowl (2018–2019)
2018 matchup
California vs. TCU (TCU 10–7 OT)
2019 matchup
Air Force vs. Washington State (Air Force 31–21)

Originally played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then the Insight Bowl from 2002 through 2011, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl for 2012 and 2013, and the Cactus Bowl for the 2014 through 2017 seasons. In 2018 and 2019, the game was known as the Cheez-It Bowl. In 2020, the game returned to being known as the Cactus Bowl.

When the bowl was initially founded, it was played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, on the campus of the University of Arizona. In 2000, the organizers moved the game from Tucson to Phoenix. There, it was played at what is now known as Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. For the 2006 season, the bowl moved a second time. After the annual Fiesta Bowl left Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe in favor of playing in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, the bowl (then still known as the Insight Bowl) was relocated there as a permanent replacement. The bowl returned to its previous home of Chase Field in Phoenix for the January 2016 playing, due to renovation work at Sun Devil Stadium that was expected to last at least three off-seasons.[2] The bowl has remained at Chase Field through the December 2019 playing, making it one of two active bowl games staged in baseball-specific stadiums, the other being the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

History

"Cactus Bowl" had been the originally planned name for what became the Copper Bowl in 1989.[3] The game was played under the Copper Bowl name through 1996, after which title sponsorship rights were assumed by Insight Enterprises, which self-titled the game from 1997 through 2011. In 2012, restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings became the sponsor and self-titled the game for two years.[4] Buffalo Wild Wings declined to renew sponsorship following the 2013 game,[5] at which time organizers opted to rename the game "Cactus Bowl" rather than reverting to the Copper Bowl name. There had been a Texas-based Cactus Bowl played in Division II, but that game was discontinued after 2011. For 2014, TicketCity sponsored the new Cactus Bowl,[6] and Motel 6 became the sponsor in 2015.[7] In 2018, Kellogg's became the sponsor and rebranded the bowl, naming it after its cheese cracker brand, Cheez-It.[8] In May 2020, the Cactus Bowl name returned, as Cheez-It sponsorship moved to what had been known as the Camping World Bowl played in Orlando, Florida.[9]

For the first ten years, the game was played at Arizona Stadium, on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. In 2000, the bowl's organizers moved the game to Bank One Ballpark, a baseball-specific stadium, in downtown Phoenix. In 2006, the game moved to Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University in Tempe to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which had moved to University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. The 2006 game set a record (since tied in the 2016 Alamo Bowl) for the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I FBS bowl history,[10] as Texas Tech came back from a 38–7 third-quarter deficit to defeat Minnesota in overtime, 44–41.

For the first three playings of the Copper Bowl, TBS carried the game. Beginning in 1992 and continuing until the 2005 playing, the game aired on ESPN. After a four-year hiatus, during which NFL Network carried the game, ESPN regained the rights beginning in 2010.

Conference tie-ins

Before 2006, the game mainly featured teams from the Pac-10, Western Athletic Conference, Big 12, and old Big East conferences. From 2006 to 2013, it began featuring an annual matchup between teams from the Big Ten and the Big 12. Starting with the 2015 game, it featured a matchup between Pac-12 and Big 12 teams. Teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference have also competed, along with teams from the now defunct Southwest Conference and Big Eight, and one independent school (Notre Dame in 2004). In July 2019, the bowl announced tie-ins with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, starting with the 2020–21 season and continuing through the 2025–26 season.[11]

Game results

All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played.

No.	Date	Bowl name	Winning Team		Losing Team		Attnd.
1	December 31, 1989	Copper Bowl	Arizona	17	NC State	10	37,237
2	December 31, 1990	Copper Bowl	California	17	Wyoming	15	36,340
3	December 31, 1991	Copper Bowl	Indiana	24	Baylor	0	35,751
4	December 31, 1992	Copper Bowl	No 18 Washington State	31	Utah	28	40,826
5	December 29, 1993	Copper Bowl	No. 20 Kansas State	52	Wyoming	17	49,075
6	December 29, 1994	Copper Bowl	No. 22 BYU	31	Oklahoma	6	45,122
7	December 27, 1995	Copper Bowl	Texas Tech	55	Air Force	41	41,004
8	December 27, 1996	Copper Bowl	Wisconsin	38	Utah	10	42,122
9	December 27, 1997	Insight.com Bowl	Arizona	20	New Mexico	14	49,385
10	December 26, 1998	Insight.com Bowl	No. 23 Missouri	34	West Virginia	31	36,147
11	December 31, 1999	Insight.com Bowl	Colorado	62	No. 25 Boston College	28	35,762
12	December 28, 2000	Insight.com Bowl	Iowa State	37	Pittsburgh	29	41,813
13	December 29, 2001	Insight.com Bowl	No. 18 Syracuse	26	Kansas State	3	40,028
14	December 26, 2002	Insight Bowl	No. 24 Pittsburgh	38	Oregon State	13	40,533
15	December 26, 2003	Insight Bowl	California	52	Virginia Tech	49	42,364
16	December 28, 2004	Insight Bowl	Oregon State	38	Notre Dame	21	45,917
17	December 27, 2005	Insight Bowl	Arizona State	45	Rutgers	40	43,536
18	December 29, 2006	Insight Bowl	Texas Tech	44	Minnesota	41 (OT)	48,391
19	December 31, 2007	Insight Bowl	Oklahoma State	49	Indiana	33	48,892
20	December 31, 2008	Insight Bowl	Kansas	42	Minnesota	21	49,103
21	December 31, 2009	Insight Bowl	Iowa State	14	Minnesota	13	45,090
22	December 28, 2010	Insight Bowl	Iowa	27	No. 14 Missouri	24	53,453
23	December 30, 2011	Insight Bowl	No. 19 Oklahoma	31	Iowa	14	54,247
24	December 29, 2012	Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl	Michigan State	17	TCU	16	44,617
25	December 28, 2013	Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl	Kansas State	31	Michigan	14	53,284
26	January 2, 2015	Cactus Bowl	Oklahoma State	30	Washington	22	35,409
27	January 2, 2016	Cactus Bowl	West Virginia	43	Arizona State	42	39,321
28	December 27, 2016	Cactus Bowl	Baylor	31	Boise State	12	33,328
29	December 26, 2017	Cactus Bowl	Kansas State	35	UCLA	17	32,859
30	December 26, 2018	Cheez-It Bowl	TCU	10	California	7 (OT)	33,121
31	December 27, 2019	Cheez-It Bowl	No. 24 Air Force	31	Washington State	21	34,105

Games  1–11 played in Tucson at Arizona Stadium

Games 12–17 played in Phoenix at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field)

Games 18–26 played in Tempe at Sun Devil Stadium

Games 27–present played in Phoenix at Chase Field (formerly Bank One Ballpark)

MVPs

Two MVPs are selected for each game; one an offensive player, the other a defensive player.[12]

Game	Offensive MVP			Defensive MVP
	Player	Team	Position	Player	Team	Position
1989	Shane Montgomery	North Carolina State	QB	Scott Geyer	Arizona	DB
1990	Mike Pawlawski	California	QB	Robert Midgett	Wyoming	LB
1991	Vaughn Dunbar	Indiana	TB	Mark Hagen	Indiana	LB
1992	Drew Bledsoe	Washington State	QB	Kareem Leary	Utah	DB
1993	Andre Coleman	Kansas State	WR	Kenny McEntyre	Kansas State	CB
1994	Jamal Willis	BYU	RB	Broderick Simpson	Oklahoma	LB
1995	Zebbie Lethridge	Texas Tech	QB	Mickey Dalton	Air Force	CB
1996	Ron Dayne	Wisconsin	RB	Tarek Saleh	Wisconsin	LB
1997	Trung Canidate	Arizona	RB	Jimmy Sprotte	Arizona	LB
1998	Marc Bulger	West Virginia	QB	Jeff Marriott	Missouri	DT
1999	Cortlen Johnson	Colorado	RB	Jashon Sykes	Colorado	LB
2000	Sage Rosenfels	Iowa State	QB	Reggie Hayward	Iowa State	DE
2001	James Mungro	Syracuse	RB	Clifton Smith	Syracuse	LB
2002	Brandon Miree	Pittsburgh	TB	Claude Harriott	Pittsburgh	DL
2003	Aaron Rodgers	California	QB	Ryan Gutierrez	California	FS
2004	Derek Anderson	Oregon State	QB	Trent Bray	Oregon State	LB
2005	Rudy Carpenter	Arizona State	QB	Jamar Williams	Arizona State	LB
2006	Graham Harrell	Texas Tech	QB	Antonio Huffman	Texas Tech	CB
2007	Zac Robinson	Oklahoma State	QB	Donovan Woods	Oklahoma State	S
2008	Dezmon Briscoe	Kansas	WR	James Holt	Kansas	LB
2009	Alexander Robinson	Iowa State	RB	Christopher Lyle	Iowa State	DE
2010	Marcus Coker	Iowa	RB	Micah Hyde	Iowa	DB
2011	Blake Bell	Oklahoma	QB	Jamell Fleming	Oklahoma	DB
2012	Le'Veon Bell	Michigan State	RB	William Gholston	Michigan State	DE
2013	Tyler Lockett	Kansas State	WR	Dante Barnett	Kansas State	DB
2015	Desmond Roland	Oklahoma State	RB	Seth Jacobs	Oklahoma State	LB
2016 (Jan.)	Skyler Howard	West Virginia	QB	Shaq Petteway	West Virginia	LB
2016 (Dec.)	KD Cannon	Baylor	WR	Tyrone Hunt	Baylor	DE
2017	Alex Delton	Kansas State	QB	Denzel Goolsby	Kansas State	S
2018	Sewo Olonilua	TCU	RB	Jaylinn Hawkins	California	S
2019	Kadin Remsberg	Air Force	RB	Grant Donaldson	Air Force	OLB

Sportsmanship award

The bowl awarded a sportsmanship award for the 2001 through January 2016 games.[12]

Game	Player	Team	Position
2001	Terry Pierce	Kansas State	LB
2002	Derek Anderson	Oregon State	QB
2003	Doug Easlick	Virginia Tech	FB
2004	Derek Curry	Notre Dame	LB
2005	Ryan Neill	Rutgers	DE
2006	Dominic Jones	Minnesota	DB
2007	Jonathan "Josh" Sandberg	Indiana	OG
2008	Jack Simmons	Minnesota	TE
2009	D.J. Burris	Minnesota	OG
2010	Tim Barnes	Missouri	C
2011	Tyler Nielsen	Iowa	LB
2012	Tayo Fabuluje	TCU	OT
2013	Devin Funchess	Michigan	WR
2015	Andrew Hudson	Washington	DE
2016 (Jan.)	D. J. Foster	Arizona State	RB

Most appearances

Chase Field prior to the 2019 edition of the bowl

Texas is the only current Big 12 school that has not played in this bowl. Seven of the current Big 12 schools have appeared multiple times. Former Big 12 members Colorado and Missouri have appeared in the bowl, but former Big 12 members Nebraska and Texas A&M have not.

Updated through the December 2019 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Rank	Team	Appearances	Record
1	Kansas State	4	3–1
T2	California	3	2–1
T2	Minnesota	3	0–3
T4	Arizona	2	2–0
T4	Oklahoma State	2	2–0
T4	Texas Tech	2	2–0
T4	Iowa State	2	2–0
T4	Air Force	2	1–1
T4	Arizona State	2	1–1
T4	Indiana	2	1–1
T4	Missouri	2	1–1
T4	Oregon State	2	1–1
T4	Pittsburgh	2	1–1
T4	Iowa	2	1–1
T4	Oklahoma	2	1–1
T4	West Virginia	2	1–1
T4	Baylor	2	1–1
T4	TCU	2	1–1
T4	Washington State	2	1–1
T4	Utah	2	0–2
T4	Wyoming	2	0–2

Teams with a single appearance

Won: BYU, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan State, Syracuse, Wisconsin
Lost: Boise State, Boston College, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Rutgers, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Washington

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2019 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances).

Conference	Record				Appearances by season
	Games	W	L	Win pct.	Won	Lost
Big 12	17	14	3	.824	1998, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014*, 2015*, 2016, 2017, 2018	2001, 2010, 2012
Pac-12	13	7	6	.538	1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005	2002, 2014*, 2015*, 2017, 2018, 2019
Big Ten	10	4	6	.400	1991, 1996, 2010, 2012	2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
Big East	7	2	5	.286	2001, 2002	1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005
WAC	7	1	6	.143	1994	1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997
Big Eight	2	1	1	.500	1993	1994
SWC	2	1	1	.500	1995	1991
Mountain West	2	1	1	.500	2019	2016
ACC	1	0	1	.000		1989
Independents	1	0	1	.000		2004

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Records reflect conference affiliations at the time the game was played. For example, current Pac-12 member Colorado appeared as a member of the Big 12 in 1999.
• The Pac-12's record includes appearances when the conference was the Pac-10. From 1989 through 2005, Pac-10 teams made eight appearances and were 7–1.
• Big East teams made seven appearances and were 2–5; the American Athletic Conference (The American) retains the conference charter following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines.
• Conferences that are defunct or no longer active in FBS are marked in italics.
• Independent appearances: Notre Dame (2004)

Game records

Team	Performance vs. opponent	Year
Most points scored (one team)	62, Colorado vs. Boston College	1999
Most points scored (losing team)	49, Virginia Tech vs. California	2003
Most points scored (both teams)	101, California vs. Virginia Tech	2003
Fewest points allowed	0, Indiana vs. Baylor	1991
Largest margin of victory	35, Kansas State vs. Wyoming	1993
Total yards	679, Arizona State vs. Rutgers	2005
Rushing yards	431, Air Force vs. Texas Tech	1995
Passing yards	492, Washington State vs. Utah	1992
First downs	33, Arizona State vs. Rutgers	2005
Fewest yards allowed	130, North Carolina State vs. Arizona	1989
Fewest rushing yards allowed	8, Pittsburgh vs. Oregon State	2002
Fewest passing yards allowed	16, Utah vs. Wisconsin	1996
Individual	Performance vs. opponent	Year
All-purpose yards	498, Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State vs. Rutgers	2005
Touchdowns (all-purpose)
Rushing yards	260, Byron Hanspard, Texas Tech vs. Air Force	1995
Rushing touchdowns	4, Byron Hanspard, Texas Tech vs. Air Force	1995
Passing yards	532, Skyler Howard, West Virginia vs. Arizona State	2016*
Passing touchdowns	5, Skyler Howard, West Virginia vs. Arizona State	2016*
Receiving yards	212, Phillip Bobo, Washington State vs. Utah	1992
Receiving touchdowns	3, Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas vs. Minnesota	2008
Tackles	20 (total), Jahad Woods, Washington State vs. Air Force	2019
Sacks
Interceptions	2, most recent: Kyle Theret, Minnesota vs. Iowa State	2009
Long Plays	Performance vs. opponent	Year
Touchdown run	71, Danta Johnson, Air Force vs. Texas Tech	1995
Touchdown pass	87, Phillip Bobo from Drew Bledsoe, Washington State vs. Utah	1992
Kickoff return	60, shared by: Ricardo Rhodes, Missouri vs. West Virginia Troy Stoudermire, Minnesota vs. Kansas	1998 2008
Punt return	88, Ben Kelly, Colorado vs. Boston College	1999
Interception return	78, George White, Boston College vs. Colorado	1999
Fumble return
Punt	67, shared by: Travis Brown, Kansas State vs. Syracuse Tress Way, Oklahoma vs. Iowa	2001 2011
Field goal	53, Jaden Oberkrom, TCU vs. Michigan State	2012

Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the noted calendar year.

Source:[13]

Media coverage

The bowl has been televised by three different networks; TBS (1989–1991), ESPN (1992–2005, 2010–present), and NFL Network (2006–2009).[14]

References

1. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
2. McMurphy, Brett (May 4, 2015). "Cactus Bowl moving to Chase Field for next three seasons". ESPN.com.
3. "New bowl game seeking sponsor, TV pact". The Tuscaloosa News. 1988-08-13. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
4. "Insight Bowl loses its title sponsor after 15 years,". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
5. "Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl loses sponsorship". azcentral. 16 June 2014.
6. "TicketCity gets Cactus Bowl naming rights for Cactus Bowl in Tempe". Phoenix Business Journal. 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
7. "Motel 6 inks naming rights deal for Cactus Bowl". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
8. "CHEEZ-IT JOINS CACTUS BOWL AS NEW NAMING RIGHTS PARTNER". Retrieved August 20, 2018.
9. Metcalfe, Jeff (May 27, 2020). "Downtown Phoenix bowl game reverts to Cactus Bowl name". azcentral.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
10. "Down 31, Texas Tech rallies for biggest bowl comeback". Associated Press. December 29, 2006. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2006 – via ESPN.
11. Fitzgerald, Katherine (June 4, 2019). "Cheez-It Bowl to feature Big Ten vs. Big 12 matchup starting in 2020". azcentral.com. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
12. "Game History". fiestabowl.org. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
13. "Cheez-It Bowl Records". fiestabowl.org. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
14. Kelly, Doug (ed.). "2019–20 Football Bowl Association Media Guide" (PDF). footballbowlassociation.com: 94. Retrieved January 3, 2020.

External links

• Official website