Alamo Bowl


The Alamo Bowl is a college football post-season bowl game featuring NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams, played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been played in late December, although it has been contested in early January three times. The bowl has had tie-ins with several athletic conferences, most recently the Big 12 Conference and Pac-12 Conference. Since 2007, the game has been sponsored by Valero Energy Corporation and is officially known as the Valero Alamo Bowl.

History

The game was previously known as the Builders Square Alamo Bowl, the Sylvania Alamo Bowl, and the MasterCard Alamo Bowl. The logo of the event has evolved to reflect the changes in sponsorship. On May 24, 2007, the Alamo Bowl announced a partnership with San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corporation, and thus the bowl's full name was changed. The partnership with Valero remained place through the 2025 edition.
The game originally gave an automatic invite to a team from the now-defunct Southwest Conference. However, in 1993, only two of the eight SWC teams finished with the necessary 6 wins against Division I-A teams to become bowl-eligible, and those two teams were already committed to other bowls, so the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten were invited instead. The SWC was able to provide teams for the next two seasons before the conference disbanded.
During the 1996 Alamo Bowl, the Iowa Hawkeyes wore plain black helmets in honor of linebacker Mark Mitchell's mother, who died in a car accident while traveling to San Antonio for the game.
The 2002 Alamo Bowl played between the Colorado Buffaloes and Wisconsin Badgers was the first Alamo Bowl to go into overtime, with the unranked Badgers defeating the No. 14 ranked Buffaloes after kicking a field goal to win 31–28, completing a perfect non-conference schedule at 6-0.
The 2005 Alamo Bowl ended with one of the most controversial plays in bowl game history. During the multi-lateral play, almost the entire Nebraska Cornhuskers team and coaching staff as well as half of the Michigan Wolverines sideline came onto the field, and the Cornhuskers gave their coach a Gatorade shower before the play was blown dead. It drew parallels to 1982's "The Play", 2000's "Music City Miracle", and 2002's "Bluegrass Miracle". Nebraska won the game, 32−28, after Michigan was not able to reach the endzone.
The 2007 Alamo Bowl between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Texas A&M Aggies was attended by 66,166, an Alamodome facility-record crowd for a sporting event, breaking the previous record set in the 2006 Alamo Bowl. The Nittany Lions won the game, 24–17.
The Alamo Bowl has sold out at least seven editions: 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011.
On August 28, 2009, the Alamo Bowl organizers announced they had reached an agreement with the then Pac-10 Conference to replace the Big Ten in the Alamo Bowl. Under the terms of the agreement, the Pac-10's second-choice team would earn a bid to the Alamo Bowl. The agreement took effect beginning with the 2010 college football season. The Pac-10's second-choice team was previously contracted to play in the Holiday Bowl against the third choice from the Big 12 Conference. The Big 12's third-choice also moved to the Alamo Bowl, with the Holiday Bowl receiving third choice of team from the Pac-10 and the fourth choice from the Big Ten. The 2009 agreement persisted through the expansion of the Pac-10 when it became the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
In the 2011 Alamo Bowl, the Baylor Bears and Washington Huskies combined to score 123 points, breaking the record for the most points scored in a bowl game in college football history. Baylor won the game, 67–56. The 2011 game was also the first Alamo Bowl to feature a season's Heisman Trophy winner, Baylor's Robert Griffin III.
For bowls following the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Pac-12 "legacy schools" continued to fulfill their prior conference's tie-in role.

Game results

All rankings are taken from the AP poll prior to the game being played.
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MVPs

Two MVPs are selected for each game; one offensive player and one defensive player.
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Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award

The bowl's sportsmanship award is named after Fred Jacoby, who served as SWC commissioner from 1982 to 1993.
YearPlayerTeamPosition
1993Larry BlueIowaDT
1994Adrian RobinsonBaylorDB
1995Jarrett IronsMichiganLB
1996Shane DunnTexas TechOT
1997Kevin WilliamsOklahoma StateDB
1998Jarrod CooperKansas StateDB
1999Jason WebsterTexas A&MCB
2000Zak KustokNorthwesternQB
2001Anton PaigeTexas TechWR
2002Zac ColvinColoradoQB
2003Joe TateMichigan StateOG
2004Donovan WoodsOklahoma StateQB
2005Steve BreastonMichiganWR
2006Mike ElginIowaOL
2007Mark DodgeTexas A&MLB
2008Rasheed WardNorthwesternWR
Jan. 2010Ross WeaverMichigan StateDB
Dec. 2010David DouglasArizonaWR
2011Senio KelemeteWashingtonOG
2012Storm WoodsOregon StateRB
2013Carrington ByndomTexasCB
2015Tyler LockettKansas StateWR
Jan. 2016Rodney HardrickOregonLB
Dec. 2016Sean IrwinColoradoTE
2017Harrison PhillipsStanfordDT
2018Marcel Spears Jr.Iowa StateLB
2019Zack MossUtahRB
2020Carson WellsColoradoLB
2021Alex ForsythOregonC
2022Anthony CookTexasDB
2023Austin StognerOklahomaTE
2024
2025

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Most appearances

Updated through the December 2025 edition.
;Teams with multiple appearances
;Teams with a single appearance
Won : BYU, California, Missouri, Ohio State, UCLA, Wisconsin
Lost : Iowa State, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, Utah
Arizona State, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, UCF and West Virginia are the only current or former Big 12 members that have not appeared in the bowl. With the December 2025 appearance of USC, Arizona State is the only Pac-12 legacy member that has not appeared. Colorado has appeared as both a member of the Big 12 and Pac-12.

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2025 edition.
  • Games marked with an asterisk were played in January of the following calendar year.
  • The record of the Pac-12 includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10.
  • The Southwest Conference dissolved after the 1995 season.
  • The December 2024 game featured two teams from the Big 12

    Game records

TeamRecord, Team vs. OpponentYear
Most points scored 67, Baylor vs. Washington2011
Most points scored 56, Washington vs Baylor2011
Most points scored 123, Baylor vs. Washington2011
Fewest points allowed0, shared by:
Iowa vs. Texas Tech
Penn State vs. Texas A&M
1996
1999
Largest margin of victory49, Nebraska vs. Northwestern 2000
Total yards777, Baylor vs. Washington2011
Rushing yards482, Baylor vs. Washington2011
Passing yards460, Texas Tech vs. Michigan StateJan. 2010
First downs33, Baylor vs. Washington2011
Fewest yards allowed90, California vs. Iowa1993
Fewest rushing yards allowed20, California vs. Iowa1993
Fewest passing yards allowed56, Oregon vs. Texas2013
IndividualRecord, Player, TeamYear
All-purpose yards249, Tyler Lockett 2015
Touchdowns 7, Keith Price 2011
Rushing yards240, Dan Alexander 2000
Rushing touchdowns5, Terrance Ganaway 2011
Passing yards438, Keith Price 2011
Passing touchdowns4, shared by :
Keith Price
Casey Thompson
2011
2020
Receiving yards198, Jermaine Kearse 2011
Receptions13, Tyler Lockett 2014
Receiving touchdowns3, J. J. Arcega-Whiteside 2017
Tackles17, Sean Weatherspoon 2008
Sacks4.5, Alex Okafor 2012
Interceptions2, most recently:
Leon Hall
2005
Long PlaysRecord, TeamYear
Touchdown run89 yds., Terrance Ganaway 2011
Touchdown pass93 yds., Jalen Reagor 2017
Kickoff return69 yds., Steve Breaston 2005
Punt return76 yds., Desmon White 2017
Interception return91 yds., Don Strickland 2002
Fumble return87 yds., Gunner Maldonado 2023
Punt67 yds., Justin Brantly 2007
Field goal53 yds., Cameron Dicker 2020
MiscellaneousRecord, TeamsYear
Bowl Attendance66,166, Penn State vs. Texas A&M2007

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