Sugar Bowl
American football game
Sugar Bowl, postseason American collegiate gridiron football game played on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day in New Orleans. The bowl hosts, in a rotation along with the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, and Rose bowls, a semifinal game of the College Football Playoff, which determines college football’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly known as Division I-A) national champion.
The first Sugar Bowl was played in 1935, eight years after it had been conceived by Col. James M. Thomson, publisher of the New Orleans Item, and by Fred J. Digby, a columnist for that newspaper. Supporters of the game raised $30,000 by subscription, and Tulane University allowed its stadium to be used at no charge (Tulane defeated Temple University 20–14 in the inaugural game). The Sugar Bowl moved from Tulane Stadium to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans in 1976. At that time the champion team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) became the host team of the Sugar Bowl. From 1999 to 2006, under the original format of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS; the precursor to the College Football Playoff), the Sugar Bowl took a turn being the national championship game every four years. (Under the system that was in place from 2007 to 2013, all the BCS bowls were played annually, with a rotating national championship game added). The Sugar Bowl still has tie-ins with the SEC and the Big 12 Conference, whose champions generally play there unless the teams or the bowl is participating in the national semifinals. Annual festivities leading up to the Sugar Bowl include a regatta on Lake Pontchartrain and a few unofficial Mardi Gras-style parades.
A list of Sugar Bowl results is provided in the table.
season
result
1Part of Bowl Championship Series (BCS) from 1998–99 until 2013–14; part of College Football Playoff (CFP) from 2014–15.
2BCS national championship game.
3Win vacated because of rules violations committed by Ohio State during the 2010–11 season.
4CFP semifinal.
1934–35
Tulane
20
Temple
14
1935–36
Texas Christian
3
Louisiana State
2
1936–37
Santa Clara
21
Louisiana State
14
1937–38
Santa Clara
6
Louisiana State
1938–39
Texas Christian
15
Carnegie Tech
7
1939–40
Texas A&M
14
Tulane
13
1940–41
Boston College
19
Tennessee
13
1941–42
Fordham
2
Missouri
1942–43
Tennessee
14
Tulsa
7
1943–44
Georgia Tech
20
Tulsa
18
1944–45
Duke
29
Alabama
26
1945–46
Oklahoma A&M
33
St. Mary's
13
1946–47
Georgia
20
North Carolina
10
1947–48
Texas
27
Alabama
7
1948–49
Oklahoma
14
North Carolina
6
1949–50
Oklahoma
35
Louisiana State
1950–51
Kentucky
13
Oklahoma
7
1951–52
Maryland
28
Tennessee
13
1952–53
Georgia Tech
24
Mississippi
7
1953–54
Georgia Tech
42
West Virginia
19
1954–55
Navy
21
Mississippi
1955–56
Georgia Tech
7
Pittsburgh
1956–57
Baylor
13
Tennessee
7
1957–58
Mississippi
39
Texas
7
1958–59
Louisiana State
7
Clemson
1959–60
Mississippi
21
Louisiana State
1960–61
Mississippi
14
Rice
6
1961–62
Alabama
10
Arkansas
3
1962–63
Mississippi
17
Arkansas
13
1963–64
Alabama
12
Mississippi
7
1964–65
Louisiana State
13
Syracuse
10
1965–66
Missouri
20
Florida
18
1966–67
Alabama
34
Nebraska
7
1967–68
Louisiana State
20
Wyoming
13
1968–69
Arkansas
16
Georgia
2
1969–70
Mississippi
27
Arkansas
22
1970–71
Tennessee
34
Air Force
13
1971–72
Oklahoma
40
Auburn
22
1972–73
Oklahoma
14
Penn State
1973–74
Notre Dame
24
Alabama
23
1974–75
Nebraska
13
Florida
10
1975–76
Alabama
13
Penn State
6
1976–77
Pittsburgh
27
Georgia
3
1977–78
Alabama
35
Ohio State
6
1978–79
Alabama
14
Penn State
7
1979–80
Alabama
24
Arkansas
9
1980–81
Georgia
17
Notre Dame
10
1981–82
Pittsburgh
24
Georgia
20
1982–83
Penn State
27
Georgia
23
1983–84
Auburn
9
Michigan
7
1984–85
Nebraska
28
Louisiana State
10
1985–86
Tennessee
35
Miami (Fla.)
7
1986–87
Nebraska
30
Louisiana State
15
1987–88
Auburn
16
Syracuse
16
1988–89
Florida State
13
Auburn
7
1989–90
Miami (Fla.)
33
Alabama
25
1990–91
Tennessee
23
Virginia
22
1991–92
Notre Dame
39
Florida
28
1992–93
Alabama
34
Miami (Fla.)
13
1993–94
Florida
41
West Virginia
7
1994–95
Florida State
23
Florida
17
1995–96
Virginia Tech
28
Texas
10
1996–97
Florida
52
Florida State
20
1997–98
Florida State
31
Ohio State
14
1998–99
Ohio State
24
Texas A&M
14
1999–20002
Florida State
46
Virginia Tech
29
2000–01
Miami (Fla.)
37
Florida
20
2001–02
Louisiana State
47
Illinois
34
2002–03
Georgia
26
Florida State
13
2003–042
Louisiana State
21
Oklahoma
14
2004–05
Auburn
16
Virginia Tech
13
2005–06
West Virginia
38
Georgia
35
2006–07
Louisiana State
41
Notre Dame
14
2007–08
Georgia
41
Hawaii
10
2008–09
Utah
31
Alabama
17
2009–10
Florida
51
Cincinnati
24
2010–11
Ohio State3
31
Arkansas
26
2011–12
Michigan
23
Virginia Tech
20
2012–13
Louisville
33
Florida
23
2013–14
Oklahoma
45
Alabama
31
2014–154
Ohio State
42
Alabama
35
2015–16
Mississippi
48
Oklahoma State
20
2016–17
Oklahoma
35
Auburn
19
2017–184
Alabama
24
Clemson
6
2018–19
Texas
28
Georgia
21
2019–20
Georgia
26
Baylor
14
2020–214
Ohio State
49
Clemson
28
2021–22
Baylor
21
Mississippi
7
2022–23
Alabama
45
Kansas State
20
What's Your Reaction?