Holiday Bowl

History

The Holiday Bowl was founded in 1978 to give the Western Athletic Conference an automatic bowl bid after the Fiesta Bowl, which previously had a tie-in with the conference, ended its association with the WAC following the departure of Arizona and Arizona State (the latter of which served as the game's host) to join the Pacific-8 Conference in the summer of 1978, leading to the conference renaming itself as the Pacific-10. The Holiday Bowl inherited the Fiesta Bowl's former WAC ties and gave the conference's champion its automatic bid. For the first several editions, the WAC champion played an at-large team; from 1991 through 1994, the Big Ten Conference was given the second bid, provided it had enough bowl-eligible teams.

Beginning in 1995, the Big Eight Conference replaced the Big Ten and remained tied with the bowl as the conference expanded to become the Big 12 the following year. The WAC's automatic bid was split, with first choice given to the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, and a team from the Pacific-10 was added as the alternate pick (meaning that, if the WAC champion played in the Cotton Bowl, a Pacific-10 team would play in the Holiday Bowl). The WAC ended its association with the Holiday Bowl after 1997, and the game became a matchup between the Big 12 and Pacific-10.

From 1998 to 2009, the matchup featured the No. 2 team in the Pacific-10/Pac-12 and the No. 3 Big 12 team, but the Alamo Bowl outbid the Holiday Bowl to feature that matchup beginning in 2010. Holiday Bowl Executive Director Bruce Binkowski stated that average ticket prices for the Holiday Bowl would have had to be increased from $60 to $100 to match the Alamo Bowl's offer of a $3 million payout (the Holiday Bowl was only offering $2.35 million). The Pac-12 and Big 12 retained their contracts with the Holiday Bowl, however, and the 2010–2013 matchups pitted the No. 3 Pac-12 team against the No. 5 Big 12 team.

Starting with the 2014 game, the Big Ten signed a six-year contract to return after a 20-year absence to the Holiday Bowl, regaining the slot that it had held from 1991 to 1994. With this agreement, the Holiday Bowl featured the No. 3 Pac-12 team and the No. 4 Big Ten team. In 2019, the bowl announced plans to host a Pac-12 team and an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) team during the 2020-2025 games.

Through 2019, the bowl was played at San Diego Stadium. The stadium was demolished beginning in the autumn of 2020, at which point the game was played at Petco Park. In 2024, the bowl returned to Mission Valley playing in Snapdragon Stadium, built on the site of San Diego Stadium.

On October 22, 2020, organizers canceled the 2020 edition of the bowl, citing complications from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 edition was called off hours before kickoff on December 28, due to COVID-19 protocol issues within the UCLA program, and officially canceled the next morning, after organizers could not secure a replacement team to face NC State. In May 2023, organizers of the Holiday Bowl filed a lawsuit in San Diego County, seeking $3 million in damages from the Pac-12 and UCLA due to their withdrawal from the 2021 game. Organizers also stated that since reimbursement was not provided for cancellation of the 2021 game, the bowl withheld a $3.2 million payment to Pac-12 member Oregon for the 2022 game.

In 2025, Holiday Bowl organizers considered moving the game from San Diego to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The bowl's organizing committee met with Saudi officials in the spring of that year regarding the move and discussions about the proposal were communicated to the ACC, but the conference's athletic directors rejected it. The game itself was scheduled for January 2, 2026, still held in San Diego. It will be the first time the Holiday Bowl is played in the month of January. If the Saudi Arabia proposal had been approved, the 2025 Holiday Bowl would have been the first NCAA sanctioned bowl game held outside of North America.

Sponsors of the bowl game have included in order: SeaWorld; Thrifty Car Rental; Chrysler Corporation (through its Plymouth brand); Culligan; Pacific Life; Bridgepoint Education; National University; National Funding, a San Diego–based alternative lender; San Diego County Credit Union, which formerly sponsored San Diego's other bowl game, the now-defunct Poinsettia Bowl; and DirecTV. In December 2025, Trust & Will was announced as the sponsor for the January 2026 game.

Notable games

For the first seven games, Brigham Young University represented the WAC as its champion. In the inaugural 1978 game, the Navy Midshipmen came in with an 8–3 record and a Commander-in-Chief's Trophy and then capped their season with a 23–16 comeback victory over the highly favored Cougars. BYU has played in a total of 11 Holiday Bowls, more than any other team.

The 1980 game became known as "The Miracle Bowl" after BYU overcame a 20-point Southern Methodist University lead with less than three minutes remaining in the game. BYU tied the score as time expired, via a 60-yard Hail Mary pass from All-American quarterback Jim McMahon to tight end Clay Brown. BYU kicker Kurt Gunther added the game-winning extra point.

The 1983 game between BYU and Missouri had its own dramatic ending, as BYU rallied behind All-American quarterback Steve Young. With just 23 seconds left, Young gave a handoff to Eddie Stinnett. Stinnett then turned around and passed it back to Steve Young, who caught it and ran in for a touchdown, giving BYU a 21–17 win. Young achieved a rare feat in college football: one touchdown pass, one touchdown run, and one touchdown reception all in a single game. For his efforts, he was named offensive MVP.

In the 1984 edition, BYU secured the national championship by defeating the Michigan Wolverines, 24–17. Because of the WAC's contract with the Holiday Bowl, BYU, top-ranked and the only undefeated team in Division I-A going into that season's bowls, was obligated to play in the mid-tier Holiday Bowl against a mediocre (6–5) Michigan squad. Again, the Holiday Bowl came down to the final few plays. BYU drove the length of the field and scored on a pass from injured All-American quarterback Robbie Bosco to Kelly Smith with 1:23 remaining. Marv Allen, who had played in the very first Holiday Bowl as a redshirt freshman in 1978, sealed the victory with an interception. This game marks a rare example of a non-New Year's Six bowl game featuring a team later named national champion.

Game results

Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played.

Source:

The NCAA ruled the 2021 edition a no contest after UCLA withdrew hours before the game was to start. Further litigation was pressed by game organizers against the Pac-12 in 2023.

MVPs

The bowl names offensive and defensive MVPs; in some instances, co-MVPs have been named, or two offensive MVPs in lieu of a defensive MVP.

Source:

Most appearances

Updated through the January 2026 edition (46 games, 92 total appearances).

;Teams with multiple appearances

;Teams with a single appearance Won (13): Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Navy, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Penn State, Syracuse, Wisconsin Lost (6): Illinois, Louisville, North Carolina, San Diego State, UCLA, Utah

Notes:

• The 2021 edition was ruled a no contest by the NCAA and is not included in this section.
• Every legacy Pac-12 legacy school except Stanford and Oregon State had appeared in the game (Colorado appeared during their first stint in the Big 12). The only current or former Big 12 members that have not played in the bowl are Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, TCU, UCF and West Virginia.

Appearances by conference

Updated through the January 2026 edition (46 games, 92 total appearances).

Notes:

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• The 2021 edition was ruled a no contest by the NCAA and is not included in this section.
• The Pac-12's record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011).
• Conferences that are defunct or no longer active in FBS are marked in italics.
• Independent appearances: Navy (1978), Penn State (1989)

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

The bowl was previously broadcast by Mizlou (1978–1984), Lorimar (1985), ESPN (1986–2016) and FS1 (2017–2019). It then moved over to Fox, although Fox did not carry its first Holiday Bowl until the 2022 edition, due to the 2020 and 2021 cancellations.

Notes

References

References

1. "2019 Bowl Schedule".
2. Schrotenboer, Brent. (October 13, 2009). "Holiday Bowl drops down in the pecking order". Sign On San Diego.
3. Tim Griffin. (August 28, 2008). "Valero Alamo Bowl, Pacific-10 Conference agree on deal starting in 2010 season".
4. Kenney, Kirk. (August 15, 2019). "Holiday Bowl gets ACC to come out to the West Coast".
5. Gonzales, Bradley. (February 4, 2021). "Reflections on the demolition of SDCCU Stadium".
6. "WATCH: Final Piece of San Diego Stadium Torn Down".
7. (June 11, 2024). "After two seasons at Petco Park, Holiday Bowl heads to Snapdragon Stadium".
8. (October 22, 2020). "2020 Holiday Bowl, Parade Cancelled".
9. Schlabach, Mark. (December 28, 2021). "Holiday Bowl between UCLA and NC State Wolfpack canceled due to COVID-19 issues in Bruins program".
10. Adelson, Andrea. (December 29, 2021). "Holiday Bowl unable to find replacement college football team, cancels game".
11. Jeyarajah, Shehan. (May 31, 2023). "Holiday Bowl seeks $3 million from UCLA, Pac-12 in lawsuit for 2021 no-show, per report".
12. (October 17, 2025). "Holiday Bowl, Saudi Arabia officials met about moving game to Middle East, but it will remain in San Diego".
13. (October 17, 2025). "College bowl games are flirting with Saudi money". FOIAball.
14. (August 28, 2025). "Holiday Bowl to be played in January for first time". Times of San Diego.
15. De Crecenzo, Sarah. (October 27, 2016). "National Funding Will Be Title Sponsor of Holiday Bowl". San Diego Business Journal.
16. De Crecenzo, Sarah. (March 9, 2017). "S.D. County Credit Union to Sponsor Holiday Bowl". San Diego Business Journal.
17. (October 26, 2023). "DIRECTV NEW TITLE SPONSOR OF HOLIDAY BOWL".
18. (December 7, 2025). "Holiday Bowl gets new title sponsor, then — wait for it — an Arizona-SMU matchup".
19. Tibbets, Ryan E.. (December 19, 2014). "Miracle Bowl, 34 years later: I don't know how you could top this one'".
20. Gurney, Brandon. (May 6, 2020). "Why BYU’s ‘Miracle Bowl’ win played a pivotal role in college football’s spread revolution".
21. Pickman, Ben. (October 22, 2020). "2020 Holiday Bowl Canceled Amid COVID-19 Pandemic".
22. Thompson, David. (December 28, 2021). "Holiday Bowl canceled: UCLA's COVID-19 issues upends Tuesday's game vs. NC State".
23. Thompson, David. (December 29, 2021). "Holiday Bowl officially canceled. NC State awarded trophy, will claim 10th win".
24. (2024). "Past Games".
25. (December 27, 2024). "Syracuse Caps 2024 with Holiday Bowl Victory".
26. Spears, Justin. (January 3, 2026). "Shorthanded Arizona Wildcats fall to SMU in Holiday Bowl".
27. DeCock, Luke. (December 29, 2021). "Did NC State football win nine or 10 games this season? It depends on who you ask.".
28. (December 31, 2018). "Champs Again: Northwestern Wins 2018 Holiday Bowl".
29. (2019). "Records".
30. Goodwin, Michael. (March 16, 1986). "6 BOWL GAMES LOSE TV CONTRACTS OVER MONEY PROBLEMS". [[The New York Times]].
31. "2019–20 Football Bowl Association Media Guide".
32. Posner, Jay. (June 15, 2017). "Holiday Bowl moving from ESPN to FS1".
33. Kenney, Kirk. (June 24, 2021). "First Holiday Bowl at Petco Park set for Dec. 28 in prime time on Fox".