Independence Bowl
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The Independence Bowl has been played annually since 1976. The game is located in Shreveport, Louisiana and currently features teams from the Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences. From 1976-1981, the champion of the Southland Conference played in the Independence Bowl against an at-large opponent. The inaugural game featured McNeese State against Tulsa. Mcneese State won the game 20-16.
From 1990-1996, the game was known as the Poulan and Weed Eater Independence Bowl, making it the first college bowl to use a title sponsor. Over the years, the game has had a few different sponsors. Sanford sponsored the game from 1998-2000 and Mainstay Investments sponsored the game from 2001-2003. The Déjà Vu chain of gentlemen’s clubs attempted to become the game’s sponsor in 2005 but their application was rejected. PetroSun became the official sponsor in 2006. The Independence Bowl has a $1.1 million payout to each school.
The SEC conference tie-in began in 1995. In that year’s game, LSU defeated Michigan State 45-26. That victory sparked the SEC’s dominance of the Independence over the next nine years. The SEC’s nine game winning streak finally came to an end in 2004 because that year the conference did not have enough bowl eligible teams. As a result, Iowa State of the Big 12 was matched up against Miami (Ohio). Iowa State won the game 17-13.
The SEC returned to the game the following year when the South Carolina Gamecocks took on the Missouri Tigers . Missouri outlasted South Carolina 38-31. Last year’s matchup between Oklahoma State and Alabama was another high scoring affair with a similar result. Oklahoma State defeated Alabama 34-31 to run the Big 12’s winning streak at the Independence Bowl to three.
This year’s contest will be played on December 30 and will likely feature teams from the Big 12 and SEC as both conferences are expected to have several bowl eligible teams this year.
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