2026 Armed Forces Bowl
The 2026 Armed Forces Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Stadium located in Fort Worth, Texas. The 23rd annual Armed Forces Bowl began at approximately at 12:00 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin and was officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
The [2025 2025 Texas State Bobcats football team|Texas State Bobcats football team|Texas State Bobcats] from the Sun Belt Conference defeated the [2025 2025 Rice Owls football team|Rice Owls football team|Rice Owls] from the American Conference, 41–10.
Before the game, one of several parachutists who were due to land on the field appeared to become tangled in a cable above one of the end zones, causing him to fall to the ground; he reportedly was able to walk away from the accident.
Teams
The Rice Owls and Texas State Bobcats accepted invitations to play in the Armed Forces Bowl. This was Rice's second appearance in this bowl, having previously appeared in the 2012 edition, while Texas State made its inaugural trip.The teams first met in 1920 and 1923, then had a six-decade lapse until playing again in 1986 and 1987; their most recent prior meeting was the 2023 First Responder Bowl—entering the Armed Forces Bowl, Texas State held a 3–2 edge in the series.