The History Of Arizona’s Most Prestigious Sporting Event

The College Football season is coming to a close, which means it's time for Bowl Season. If you're unaware, these are exhibition games played at the end of the year for teams who finished with a record above .500, and are usually meant as a celebration for players, regardless of the outcome of the game.

Among these, are the prestigious New Years Six, which only invite the best teams, and are currently a part of the playoff bracket.

History of the Fiesta Bowl

The Fiesta Bowl's origins begin like many great sports stories do: with a vengeance. In the late 1960s, the Western Athletic Conference was becoming disillusioned with the Bowl model, as their teams were continuously being excluded from the post-season.

This came to a head in 1969 when conference champion Arizona State was once again, denied a postseason bowl game. From that spite, the conference developed the Fiesta Bowl, in which the WAC champion would receive an automatic bid.

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The Fiesta Bowl in Modern Day

Early in its history, this game was played on Christmas Day, but by 1981, it had moved itself to New Years Day along with the other major bowl games (Cotton, Peach, Sugar, Rose, and Orange) to form the New Years Six.

These games were given to the best 12 teams outside of the National Championship up until 2014, when they six games rotated to be played as the Playoff Semifinal games. Now, they all take place in the expanded 12-team playoff, being played as Quarter or Semi-final games.

In 2024, the Fiesta Bowl was the Quarterfinal game, being played between Boise State and Penn State. It will host the Semifinals next year.

[Brittanica][Wikipedia]