The 2023 Liberty Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game played on December 29, 2023, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 65th annual Liberty Bowl featured

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

from the Big 12 Conference and Memphis from the American Athletic Conference (The American). The game began at approximately 2:30 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. The Liberty Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by automotive retailer AutoZone and was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Teams

The bowl featured the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 1 ...

of the Big 12 Conference and Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference (The American). While the Liberty Bowl has a tie-in with the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the SEC did not have enough bowl-eligible members to supply a team. This was the second meeting between Iowa State and Memphis; the teams previously met in the

2017 Liberty Bowl The 2017 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 30, 2017, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 59th edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 C ...

, won by Iowa State, 21–20. While Iowa State was the designated home team for the game, it was a ''de facto'' home game for Memphis, as Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the site of the Liberty Bowl, is also the Tigers' home field.

Iowa State Cyclones

The Cyclones entered the game with a 7–5 record (6–3 in the Big 12), tied for fourth place in their conference. This was Iowa State's fourth Liberty Bowl; the Cyclones were 1–2 in prior editions of the game, their sole win coming in the aforementioned 2017 game, along with losses in the 1972 edition and 2012 edition.

Memphis Tigers

The Tigers entered the game with a 9–3 record (6–2 in the American), having finished in fourth place in their conference. This was Memphis' second Liberty Bowl, after the aforementioned 2017 game.

Game summary

Statistics

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Memphis Tigers bowl game navbox Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Iowa State Cyclones football bowl games Memphis Tigers football bowl games