alamo bowl history
alamo bowl history
Fans are lining up this year to get their hands on Alamo Bowl tickets. The game, which is played annually at the end of December, is one of the most watched college bowl games on television. Every year, football-crazed fans line up outside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas to fill the stadium’s 65,000 seats in anticipation of the game.
Since its establishment in 1993, the Alamo Bowl has had several different names according to sponsorship including the Builders Square Alamo Bowl (1993-1998), the Sylvania Alamo Bowl (1999-2001) and the MasterCard Alamo Bowl (2002-2006). Currently, the association is seeking out new sponsorship for the game. But, no matter the name, the concept of the game remains the same. The bowl matches up the fourth pick college teams from the Big Ten Conference and the Big 12 Conference to play four quarters of intense, action-packed football. In the past, the Alamo Bowl has produced seven of the To 20 most watched Bowl games in ESPN history. The 2005 game, which featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers pitted against the Michigan Wolverines, saw a game that earned a 5.41 rating, making it the most watched college football game in ESPN history. That year, more than 7.8 million viewers watched as Nebraska took down Michigan in a 32-28 game in front of a crowd of 62,016.
In 2005, the Alamo Bowl saw one of its most exciting and controversial games. First, Nebraska came back from a nine point deficit in the fourth quarter of the game. With 4:29 left in the game, Zac Taylor threw a thirteen yard touchdown pass to Terrence Nunn. The game ended with an incredibly bizarre play where Michigan‘s Chad Henne, in a last ditch effort to come back from behind, threw a short pass, after which his teammates lateraled eight times up and down the field. However, the effort was in vain. Eventually, the play was ended when the Titus Brothers shoved Tyler Eckert out-of-bounds as he reached the Nebraska 13-yard line. Almost the entire Nebraska team and coaching staff, along with a few Michigan players, coaches and media, all entered onto the field before the play was called over, making it one of the most controversial endings to the game to date. The end is now compared to 1982’s “The Play,” one of the most famous plays in American sports history.
Needless to say, after last year’s game Alamo Bowl tickets will be gone as soon as they hit shelves this season. With all of the action surrounding last year’s bowl, it’s easy to see why fans have been waiting on the edge of their seats to see what this year will bring. A packed stadium and intense teams at the top of their game are sure to make the Alamo Bowl even more widely viewed from before.
