The Mercy Bowl was the name to two one-off charity
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 ...
s played at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...
in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. The first was played between
Fresno State University
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...
and
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...
on November 23, 1961, as a special fundraiser in memory of sixteen
Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...
football players
killed in a plane crash following a game against Bowling Green a year earlier.
[
][Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997. Page A1.] The game raised $200,000 for the surviving widows and children and for a memorial in their honor. A second Mercy Bowl was staged in 1971 between
CSUF and Fresno State University to benefit the fourteen surviving children of three
CSUF assistant coaches and a pilot who died in an airplane crash a month earlier.
Game results
See also
*
List of college bowl games
The following is a list of current, defunct, and proposed college football bowl games. Three bowl games are currently part of the College Football Playoff, a selection system that creates bowl matchups involving four of the top-ranked teams in t ...
References
Defunct college football bowls
Cal Poly Mustangs football
1961 in American football
1971 in American football
1961 in sports in California
1971 in sports in California
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