Cotton Bowl
football game
Cotton Bowl, postseason U.S. collegiate gridiron football game played on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day in Arlington, Texas.
The Cotton Bowl was conceived by Dallas oilman J. Curtis Sanford. The first game was played in 1937. After the 1940 game, a group of Dallas citizens acquired control of the game and named themselves the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, which later that year became an agency of the Southwest Conference. It was the only bowl game controlled and operated by a single athletic conference until the Southwest Conference disbanded in 1996. Formerly one of the four most prestigious bowl games, the Cotton Bowl lost that status in the 1990s when the College Bowl Coalition and then the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) replaced it with the Fiesta Bowl. In 2014 it once again became one of the premier bowl games in the country when it was included in the six-bowl rotation (along with the Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, and Sugar bowls) to host the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
A list of Cotton Bowl results is provided in the table.
season
result
*Part of College Football Playoff (CFP) from 2014–15.
**CFP semifinal.
1936–37
Texas Christian
16
Marquette
6
1937–38
Rice
28
Colorado
14
1938–39
St. Mary's (Calif.)
20
Texas Tech
13
1939–40
Clemson
6
Boston College
3
1940–41
Texas A&M
13
Fordham
12
1941–42
Alabama
29
Texas A&M
21
1942–43
Texas
14
Georgia Tech
7
1943–44
Randolph Field
7
Texas
7
1944–45
Oklahoma State
34
Texas Christian
1945–46
Texas
40
Missouri
27
1946–47
Arkansas
Louisiana State
1947–48
Penn State
13
Southern Methodist
13
1948–49
Southern Methodist
21
Oregon
13
1949–50
Rice
27
North Carolina
13
1950–51
Tennessee
20
Texas
14
1951–52
Kentucky
20
Texas Christian
7
1952–53
Texas
16
Tennessee
1953–54
Rice
28
Alabama
6
1954–55
Georgia Tech
14
Arkansas
6
1955–56
Mississippi
14
Texas Christian
13
1956–57
Texas Christian
28
Syracuse
27
1957–58
Navy
20
Rice
7
1958–59
Air Force
Texas Christian
1959–60
Syracuse
23
Texas
14
1960–61
Duke
7
Arkansas
6
1961–62
Texas
12
Mississippi
7
1962–63
Louisiana State
13
Texas
1963–64
Texas
28
Navy
6
1964–65
Arkansas
10
Nebraska
7
1965–66
Louisiana State
14
Arkansas
7
1966–67
Georgia
24
Southern Methodist
9
1967–68
Texas A&M
20
Alabama
16
1968–69
Texas
36
Tennessee
13
1969–70
Texas
21
Notre Dame
17
1970–71
Notre Dame
24
Texas
11
1971–72
Penn State
30
Texas
6
1972–73
Texas
17
Alabama
13
1973–74
Nebraska
19
Texas
3
1974–75
Penn State
41
Baylor
20
1975–76
Arkansas
31
Georgia
10
1976–77
Houston
30
Maryland
21
1977–78
Notre Dame
38
Texas
10
1978–79
Notre Dame
35
Houston
34
1979–80
Houston
17
Nebraska
14
1980–81
Alabama
30
Baylor
2
1981–82
Texas
14
Alabama
12
1982–83
Southern Methodist
7
Pittsburgh
3
1983–84
Georgia
10
Texas
9
1984–85
Boston College
45
Houston
28
1985–86
Texas A&M
36
Auburn
16
1986–87
Ohio State
28
Texas A&M
12
1987–88
Texas A&M
35
Notre Dame
10
1988–89
UCLA
17
Arkansas
3
1989–90
Tennessee
31
Arkansas
27
1990–91
Miami (Fla.)
46
Texas
3
1991–92
Florida State
10
Texas A&M
2
1992–93
Notre Dame
28
Texas A&M
3
1993–94
Notre Dame
24
Texas A&M
21
1994–95
Southern California
55
Texas Tech
14
1995–96
Colorado
38
Oregon
6
1996–97
Brigham Young
19
Kansas State
15
1997–98
UCLA
29
Texas A&M
23
1998–99
Texas
38
Mississippi State
11
1999–2000
Arkansas
27
Texas
6
2000–01
Kansas State
35
Tennessee
21
2001–02
Oklahoma
10
Arkansas
3
2002–03
Texas
35
Louisiana State
20
2003–04
Mississippi
31
Oklahoma State
28
2004–05
Tennessee
38
Texas A&M
7
2005–06
Alabama
13
Texas Tech
10
2006–07
Auburn
17
Nebraska
14
2007–08
Missouri
38
Arkansas
7
2008–09
Mississippi
47
Texas Tech
34
2009–10
Mississippi
21
Oklahoma State
7
2010–11
Louisiana State
41
Texas A&M
24
2011–12
Arkansas
29
Kansas State
16
2012–13
Texas A&M
41
Oklahoma
13
2013–14
Missouri
41
Oklahoma State
31
2014–15
Michigan State
42
Baylor
41
2015–16**
Alabama
38
Michigan State
2016–17
Wisconsin
24
Western Michigan
16
2017–18
Ohio State
24
Southern California
7
2018–19**
Clemson
30
Notre Dame
3
2019–20
Penn State
53
Memphis
39
2020–21
Oklahoma
55
Florida
20
2021–22**
Alabama
27
Cincinnati
6
2022–23
Tulane
46
USC
45
What's Your Reaction?