Poinsettia Bowl
| Poinsettia Bowl | |
|---|---|
| San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl | |
 Poinsettia Bowl logo | |
| Stadium | Qualcomm Stadium |
| Location | San Diego, California |
| Operated | 2005-present |
| Conference tie-ins | MWC; Pac-10; WAC in 08-09 if no Pac-10 team available |
| Payout | US$750,000 (As of 2007[update]) |
| Sponsors | |
San Diego County Credit Union (2005-present) | |
| 2007 matchup | |
| Utah vs. Navy (Utah 35, Navy 32) | |
| 2008 matchup | |
| TCU vs. Boise State (TCU 17, Boise State 16) | |
The Poinsettia Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was created in 2005. The game was created by the organizers of the Holiday Bowl and is played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game is currently sponsored by the San Diego County Credit Union and is known as the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, and as of 2008[update] features a team from the Mountain West Conference and a team from the Pac-10.[1]
The 2008 game pitted the #11 TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West against the Western Athletic Conference champion #9 Boise State Broncos. Boise State replaced the representative from the Pac-10 as they did not have enough bowl eligible teams. TCU won the tightly contested game 17-16.
History
In the week leading up to the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl, the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen accepted an invitation to the 2008 (however, they played in the EagleBank Bowl instead), 2009, or 2010 Poinsettia Bowls if Navy was bowl eligible in those seasons. The fact that there are several naval bases in and around San Diego contributed to this decision by the independent Midshipmen. The Poinsettia Bowl announced that if Army had become bowl-eligible in 2006, they would have been given an automatic bowl invite. The Cadets wound up with a losing record and were not invited. [2] It was announced in July 2007 that beginning with the 2008 game, the Pac-10 will send their seventh-place (in 2008) or sixth place (in 2009 and 2010) replacing the at-large team.
The 2006 game matched Texas Christian University, a 10–2 team from the Mountain West Conference against Northern Illinois from the Mid-American Conference, who finished the regular season with a record of 7–5. TCU defeated Northern Illinois by the score of 37–7.
The 2006 game was also the setting for the short story "The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Party," by Kyle Minor, which originally appeared in the literary journal The Southern Review, and which was subsequently chosen as one of the 100 Distinguished Sports Stories of 2008 in Best American Sports Writing 2008, published by Houghton Mifflin. (The story can be found in Minor's book In the Devil's Territory.)
As a result of Navy's win over North Texas, a game that set a new NCAA record for most points scored in a college football game, Navy returned for the 2007 contest.[3] However, they could not win against the Utah Utes, losing 35–32. The referees, however, made an official statement at the end of the game saying they had made a wrong call, which could have changed the outcome of the game.
Texas Christian University won the 2008 game over Boise State by a score of 17-16
Starting with the 2008 season, and continuing through 2009, if the Pac-10 does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill its contracted bowl slots, the Poinsettia Bowl will select a WAC team to take the place of a Pac-10 team (if available).[1]
Previous results
| Date Played | Winning Team | Losing Team | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 22, 2005 | Navy | 51 | Colorado State | 30 | notes |
| December 19, 2006 | TCU | 37 | Northern Illinois | 7 | notes |
| December 20, 2007 | Utah | 35 | Navy | 32 | notes |
| December 23, 2008 | TCU | 17 | Boise State | 16 | notes |
MVPs
| Date Played | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team | Pos. | |
| December 22, 2005 | Reggie Campbell | Navy | RB | Tyler Tidwell | Navy | LB |
| December 19, 2006 | Jeff Ballard | TCU | QB | Tommy Blake | TCU | DE |
| December 20, 2007 | Brian Johnson | Utah | QB | Joe Dale | Utah | DB |
| December 23, 2008 | Andy Dalton | TCU | QB | Stephen Hodge | TCU | S |
Most Appearances
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | TCU | 2 | 2-0 |
| T1 | Navy | 2 | 1-1 |
| T3 | Utah | 1 | 1-0 |
| T3 | Colorado State | 1 | 0-1 |
| T3 | Boise State | 1 | 0-1 |
| T3 | Northern Illinois | 1 | 0-1 |
See also
References
- ^ "Pac-10 Committs To Play In SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl". SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl. 2007-07-22. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl Reaches Deal with Army". SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl. 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ "Navy, N. Texas score most combined points in regulation FBS game". ESPN.com. espn.go.com. November 10, 2007.
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