Armed Forces Bowl

The bowl was first played in December 2003, featuring two ranked teams, No. 18 Boise State and No. 19 TCU. It was the only edition to include a ranked team (per the AP Poll) until No. 22 Army played in December 2018.

In 2010 and 2011 when Amon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project, the bowl was moved to Gerald J. Ford Stadium in nearby University Park, Texas.

Through the December 2018 playing, one of the three FBS-playing service academies (Army, Navy, and Air Force) has appeared in the game ten times. Contractual tie-ins with the American Athletic Conference (home of Navy), the Mountain West Conference (home of Air Force) and independent Army assures that one of those schools could appear in the game every year, if bowl-eligible and not already committed to another bowl.

The 2018 game, between Army and Houston, was the first sellout in the bowl's 16-year history.[4]

The bowl's partnership with the Big 12 Conference ended with the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Mountain West Conference was signed to provide a team to face either a team from the Pac-10 or Conference USA (C-USA), depending on the year; Pac-10 teams would play in odd number years while C-USA teams would play in even numbered years). As such, the 2006 and 2008 games featured C-USA teams Tulsa and Houston, respectively, whereas California represented the Pac-10 in 2007. The Pac-10 was unable to send a representative to the game in 2009, so C-USA sent Houston to the game for a second consecutive year. In 2010, since the Mountain West did not have enough eligible teams and Army was bowl eligible, Army played SMU in the bowl.

Following the 2013 football season, the Armed Forces Bowl signed multi-year agreements with the American Athletic Conference (The American), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Mountain West Conference, Army and Navy to set bowl match-ups for the next six seasons (Navy would later join The American).[1]

In December 2020, it was announced that the 2020 game would be played between teams from the Pac-12 and SEC, following cancelation of the ESPN Events-owned Las Vegas Bowl (which would have been featuring those tie-ins for the first time) due to complications relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] However, due to a lack of available teams from the Pac-12, Tulsa of The American was ultimately selected to face Mississippi State of the SEC.

Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.

Air Force Falcons on offense at the 2009 Armed Forces Bowl

Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played.

Source:[10]

An MVP is named from each team.

Source: [11][12]

Air Force Falcons quarterback Shea Smith in the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl

Updated through the December 2020 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won: Boise State, BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Rice, Tulane, Utah
Lost: Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU

Updated through the December 2020 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Independent appearances: Army (2010, 2017, 2018), BYU (2011), Navy (2013).
• Pac-12 record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011).
• The WAC no longer sponsors football.

Source: [13]

The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armed Forces Bowl.

• Official website