The Pecan Bowl was the name of some December
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 games played in two different eras. In 1946 and 1947, the game was contested between
historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). From 1964 through 1970, the game was a regional final within the
NCAA's College Division.
History
HBCUs
The first games known as the Pecan Bowl were played in 1946 and 1947, with both games hosted (and won) by the
South Carolina State Bulldogs.
College Division
The second set of games known as the Pecan Bowl were played in
Texas from 1964 through 1970. The bowl was one of four
regional finals in the College Division (which became
Division II and
Division III in 1973); it was not classified as a major bowl.
The Pecan Bowl was the regional final for the Midwest region, bounded on the east by the
Mississippi River and on the west by the states of
Wyoming,
Colorado, and
New Mexico.
The other three regional finals were the
Tangerine (later
Boardwalk),
Grantland Rice, and
Camellia bowls.
These Pecan Bowl games were originally played at
Shotwell Stadium in
Abilene, and after four years moved to
Arlington's
Memorial Stadium for the last three editions.
The bowl name had been selected through a public contest in 1964, and was considered appropriate as Abilene is in the Texas
pecan belt.
The first Midwest regional final was played in 1964 between the
State College of Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...
(now the
University of Northern Iowa) and
Lamar Tech
Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, the ...
(now
Lamar University), won by State College.
Two schools made three appearances,
North Dakota State
North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...
and
Arkansas State, with both winning twice and losing once. They played each other in 1968, won by top-ranked NDSU.
The Midwest regional final shifted to the
Pioneer Bowl
The Pioneer Bowl was the name of some December college football bowl games played in two different eras. Between 1971 and 1982, the game was contested 10 times in Texas as an NCAA College Division regional final, or as a playoff game for Divisio ...
in
Wichita Falls in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
.
Game results
HBCUs
College Division
See also
*
List of college bowl games
References
{{Reflist, 2
External Links
1966 Pecan Bowl Game Film (Parsons in dark jerseys)
Defunct college football bowls