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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),Gainesville after the namesake stadium was demolished to make way for a replacement venue, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. That venue, now known as TIAA Bank Field, has been home to the Gator Bowl since the January 1996 game. The game has been sponsored by TaxSlayer.com since 2012, and starting with the 2018 edition is officially known as the ''TaxSlayer Gator Bowl''. From 2015 to 2017, it was officially referred to as simply the ''TaxSlayer Bowl''. Previous sponsors include

Progressive Insurance The Progressive Corporation is an American insurance company, the third largest insurance carrier and the No. 1 commercial auto insurer in the United States. The company was co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis, and is headquar ...

(2011), Konica Minolta (2008–2010), Toyota (1995–2007),

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Aust ...

(1992–1994), and

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one ...

(1986–1991).

History

According to writer Anthony C. DiMarco, Charles Hilty Sr. first conceived of the event. Hilty, together with Ray McCarthy, Maurice Cherry, and W. C. Ivey, put up $10,000 to underwrite the first game, which was held at Jacksonville's football stadium,

Fairfield Stadium Fairfield Stadium was a stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. It was primarily used for football, and was the home field of the Marshall University football team between 1928 and 1990, prior to the opening of Joan C. Edwards Stadium. History ...

, on January 1, 1946. The first two years of the event did not sell out the small capacity stadium, drawing only 7,362 to the 1946 game when the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a ...

defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks, 26–14. The stadium was expanded in 1948 and renamed the Gator Bowl Stadium in honor of the event. However, it was not until the 1949 matchup between the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

and the Missouri Tigers that the future of the Gator Bowl was assured: the 1948 attendance of 16,666 for a 20–20 tie between Maryland and Georgia was nearly doubled with 32,939 watching Clemson squeak by Missouri, 24–23, on a late field goal by Jack Miller. By the 1970s, the attendance regularly reached 60,000–70,000.

Hotel Roosevelt fire in 1963

The Gator Bowl is one of Jacksonville's annual sports highlights. However, the event was once associated with a tragedy. In the early morning of December 29, 1963, the

Hotel Roosevelt The Carling, formerly known as the Carling Hotel and Hotel Roosevelt, is a historic building in Jacksonville, Florida, United States built in 1925. It is located at 31 West Adams Street in Downtown Jacksonville. As its former names indicates it wa ...

in downtown Jacksonville caught fire after a post-Gator Bowl party in the ballroom. It was later determined that the party was not the cause of the fire, and that the timing was a coincidence. The fire resulted in 22 deaths.

Woody Hayes incident in 1978

In the 1978 game between

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and Clemson, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes lost his temper after a late game interception by Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman, who stepped in front of the receiver on a pass from quarterback Art Schlichter. Bauman ran the ball out of bounds on the Ohio State sideline where Hayes struck Bauman with his right forearm. The play sealed the Tigers' 17–15 win over the Buckeyes, while Hayes was fired the next day before leaving Jacksonville.

Bowden's Last Stand in 2010

In the 2010 game between

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden (who previously coached at West Virginia) coached the final game of his career. Bowden had been the head coach at Florida State since 1976 and had won two national championships, 13 ACC championships, and had a 14-year streak of top five finishes during that time. A record crowd of over 84,000 people witnessed Bowden being carried off the field after a 33–21 Florida State victory.

TaxSlayer sponsorship

In 2014, Gator Bowl Sports announced the bowl would be renamed the TaxSlayer Bowl following a new six-year deal with tax preparation company TaxSlayer.com. As a result of the deal, the bowl increased its payout and moved to a new time slot on January 2 for 2015 and 2016. A new logo was released on April 3, 2014. For the December 2018 contest, "Gator" was reinstated in the name for the first time since 2015, with the bowl being called the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.

Venues

The 1946 and 1947 games were played in Fairfield Stadium, which had a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

of 7,600. The stadium was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and the structure was renamed the Gator Bowl. Prior to the 1949 game, the

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

was expanded to 36,058, at which it remained until 1957. That stadium hosted the game through 1993, when it was almost completely demolished for the construction of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on the same site. During construction, the December 1994 game was played at

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

. The January 1996 game, and all subsequent games to date, have been held at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, currently known as TIAA Bank Field.

Organization

The game and associated activities are overseen by Gator Bowl Sports. Founded as the Gator Bowl Association in 1945, the organization expanded in 2013 to branch into other sports and events and increase its charity wing. The association comprises 225 Gator Bowl Committee members, 84 Chairman's Club members and sponsors, more than 700 volunteers, plus over a dozen paid staff members. In addition to the Gator Bowl, the GBA has also coordinated other events. It hosted the

ACC Championship Game The ACC Championship Game is an annual American college football game held in early December by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) each year to determine its football champion. From its inception in 2005 to 2022, the game pit the champion of t ...

from 2005 to 2007 and the River City Showdown, a neutral site game between the Florida State Seminoles and another team, in 2007 and 2008.

Teams typically featured

170px, Cover of the 1973 Gator Bowl game program In the early years of the bowl, from 1946–1952, it featured a team from the Southern Conference against an at-large opponent. Beginning with the 1953 game, it switched to generally featuring a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) team against an at-large opponent. From 1953 to the 1975 game, at least one SEC team appeared in 20 out of the 24 games, and in three of those games both teams were from the SEC. The games from 1976 to 1995 usually, but not always, involved a team from the southeastern United States against a team from another part of the country. Teams from the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

(ACC) played in ten of these 20 games. From 1996–2006, the Gator Bowl traditionally hosted the second-place ACC team against the second-place Big East Conference team. With the 2007 game, the ACC runner-up became contractually tied to play in the

Chick-fil-A Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ref ...

and the Gator Bowl began hosting the third-place ACC team versus a team from either the Big East (still the conference's #2 team unless they qualified for the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includin ...

), the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

, or the unaffiliated Notre Dame Fighting Irish (who would take the Big East's spot in this game). The contract, which ran for four years, was held in conjunction with the

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose ...

, with the Gator Bowl receiving first choice of teams, and required both bowls to take Big East teams twice and Big 12 teams twice. Since the previous two Gator Bowls featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

, both Big 12 teams, a Big East team or Notre Dame would play in the 2010 Gator Bowl per the terms of the contract (West Virginia lost to Florida State in this game). The conference alignment changed again in 2010, as the Big East and Notre Dame moved their hybrid arrangement to the Champs Sports Bowl for 2010, while the Gator Bowl declined to renew its contract with the Big 12. The Gator Bowl would feature the SEC and the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

starting with the 2010 season, joining the Capital One Bowl and the Outback Bowl as the third Big Ten-SEC bowl matchup on New Year's Day. Starting in 2015, the bowl returned to a hybrid arrangement for a six-year period, with SEC teams playing ACC teams for three years and Big Ten teams the other three years; the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are also eligible during ACC years. Through 74 playings (the 2018 edition), 38 have been contested with both teams ranked (per the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and br ...

), most recently the 2006 edition. The highest ranked team to appear was No. 3

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in the 1980 edition.

Title sponsors

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one ...

was the first title sponsor, beginning in 1986 and lasting for five years.

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Aust ...

sponsored the Gator Bowl for three years beginning in 1992, prior to obtaining their own Outback Bowl held in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

. From 1996–2006, the title sponsor was Toyota. Konica Minolta then became the sponsor from 2007 to 2010. On December 14, 2010, the Gator Bowl Association announced that

Progressive Insurance The Progressive Corporation is an American insurance company, the third largest insurance carrier and the No. 1 commercial auto insurer in the United States. The company was co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis, and is headquar ...

would become the title sponsor for the 2011 Gator Bowl. On September 1, 2011, GBA announced a multi-year title sponsorship deal with TaxSlayer.com.

Game results

All rankings are taken from the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and br ...

prior to the game being played. ''Italics denote a tie game.'' Clemson v Pitt, 1977 edition Source:

MVPs

From 1946 through 1952, a single MVP was named. Starting with the 1953 game, MVPs are named for each team; in several instances, co-MVPs have been named for a team. Source:

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2021 edition (77 games, 154 appearances). ;Teams with multiple appearances ;Teams with a single appearance Won (4): LSU, Northwestern, Vanderbilt,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

Lost (9):

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

,

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, Rutgers, Stanford,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

,

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

, Washington & Lee

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2021 edition (77 games, 154 appearances). * Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year. * Records reflect conference affiliations at the time each game was played. * Conferences that are defunct or no longer active in FBS are marked in ''italics''. * The Big Eight's record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Big Six and Big Seven. * Big East teams made 12 appearances and were 4–8; the American Athletic Conference (The American) retains the conference charter following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines. * Two teams from the same conference have met five times: 1945*, 1955, 1958, 1969, and 1970*. The first instance was SoCon teams, while the others have been SEC teams. * Two independent teams have met four times: 1967, 1976, 1980, and 1982. * Independent appearances (23):

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

(1963),

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

(1964*, 1967, 1982, 1985), Georgia Tech (1965), Miami-FL (1951*), Notre Dame (1976, 1998*, 2002*), Penn State (1961, 1962, 1967, 1976), Pitt (1956, 1977, 1980),

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

(1980, 1984, 1987),

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

(1966), and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

(1982, 1989). * Every current member of the SEC has appeared in at least one Gator Bowl. Former member Georgia Tech has also appeared, former member Tulane has not. * Seven former members of the Big East appeared in the bowl, though not all while in the Big East: Louisville, Miami-FL, Pitt, Rutgers,

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

,

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. Five members have not:

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, UConn, USF and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. * Twelve current members of the ACC have appeared in the bowl, though not all while in the ACC: Clemson,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami-FL,

UNC UNC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Education * University of Northern California (disambiguation), which may refer to: ** University of Northern California (Santa Rosa), in Petaluma, California, United States ** University of No ...

, NC State, Pitt,

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

,

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, and Wake Forest, as have two former members (

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

). Two members (

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

and

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

) have yet to appear in the bowl.

Gator Bowl Hall of Fame

The Gator Bowl created a Hall of Fame in 1989; new members were announced annually through 2013, with a total of 82 inductees at that time. After 2013, additions have occurred intermittently.

75th Anniversary All Gator Bowl Team

In September 2019, bowl organizers announced an All Gator Bowl Team, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary game, played in January 2020.

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

The longtime broadcaster of the game was ABC, which showed the game in prime time from 1974 through 1985. Turner Sports bought the rights to the game after the 1991 match-up and TBS became the home of the Gator Bowl for the next four years, moving back to a late December date. The game returned to New Year's Day after NBC bought the rights to the Gator Bowl in 1996.

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

took over the television contract in 2007 and held the rights for four years.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

purchased the rights to the game following its 2010 playing and the 2011 Gator Bowl aired on ESPN2; with the acquisition of the Gator Bowl the ESPN family of networks became the home of every New Year's Day bowl game (the network already had the rights to the Outback, Capital One, and

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

bowls and acquired the rights to the TicketCity Bowl and the remainder of the BCS games).

Television

Radio

Local radio

Notes

References

External links

* {{New Year College football bowls Recurring sporting events established in 1946 Sports competitions in Jacksonville, Florida 1946 establishments in Florida American football in Jacksonville, Florida