Liberty Bowl
|
|
|
The Liberty Bowl has been played annually since 1959. The game was originally held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at John F. Kennedy Stadium until 1963. The inaugural game featured Penn State and Alabama. Penn State won the game 7-0. The 1964 Liberty Bowl was played at Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was the first ever bowl game to be played indoors.
Due to poor attendance, the Liberty Bowl was relocated to Memphis, Tennessee in 1965. In the first bowl game at Liberty Bowl Stadium, Mississippi defeated Auburn 13-7. From 1989-1992, the winner of the Commander in Chiefs Trophy earned a spot in the Liberty Bowl. During that time, Air Force was the only service academy to make an appearance. They went 2-2 in four appearances.
Beginning in 1997, the champion of Conference USA has served as the host team. From 1998-2003, a team from the Mountain West Conference was invited to play. The 2004 Liberty Bowl featured a team from the WAC instead of the Mountain West. The Southeastern Conference has been awarded a spot in the game since the start of the 2006 season. The Libery Bowl is televised on ESPN and has a $1.7 million payout to each school.
The reason the 2004 game featured a team from the WAC was because Mountain West champion Utah earned a berth in the Bowl Championship Series. The runner-up TCU accepted a bid to play in the Houston Bowl, opening up a spot for Boise State. The game between Boise State and Louisville would turn out to be the highest scoring game in Liberty Bowl history. Louisville defeated Boise State 44-40 behind the stellar play of quarterback Stefan Lefors, who was named game MVP.
Last year’s contest was also a high scoring affair. South Carolina defeated Houston 44-36. Quarterback Blake Mitchell was named MVP. This year’s Libery Bowl will be played on December 29.
|
|
Print
E-mail
Del.icio.us
Digg
