Cheez-It Bowl

The Cheez-It Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Citrus Bowl and the Florida Classic. It was first played in 1990 in Miami Gardens, Florida, before moving to Orlando in 2001. Originally commissioned as the Sunshine Classic, it has undergone several name changes due to changes in sponsorship, which have included Blockbuster (1990–1993), Carquest (1994–1997), MicronPC (1998–2000), Florida Tourism (2001), Mazda (2002–2003), Champs Sports (2004–2011), Russell Athletic (2012–2016), Camping World (2017–2019) and Cheez-It (2020–present). The game currently has tie-ins with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Big 12 Conference.[2]

Cheez-It Bowl
StadiumCamping World Stadium
LocationOrlando, Florida
Previous stadiumsJoe Robbie Stadium (1990–2000)
Previous locationsMiami Gardens, Florida (1990–2000)
Operated1990–present
Championship affiliationBowl Coalition (1992)
Conference tie-insACC, Big 12
Previous conference tie-insBig Ten, Big East
PayoutUS$6,071,760 (2019)[1]
Sponsors
Former names
  • Sunshine Classic (1990, working title)
  • Blockbuster Bowl (1990–1993)
  • Carquest Bowl (1994–1997)
  • MicronPC Bowl (1998)
  • MicronPC.com Bowl (1999–2000)
  • Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl (2001)
  • Mazda Tangerine Bowl (2002–2003)
  • Champs Sports Bowl (2004–2011)
  • Russell Athletic Bowl (2012–2016)
  • Camping World Bowl (2017–2019)
2019 matchup
Iowa State vs. Notre Dame (Notre Dame 33–9)
2020 matchup
Oklahoma State vs. Miami (FL)
(Oklahoma State 37–34)

History

The bowl was founded in 1990 by Raycom[3] and was originally played at Joe Robbie Stadium outside the city of Miami. It was formed under the name Sunshine Football Classic, but due to corporate title sponsorships, was never actually contested under this name, nor even referred to as such except during brief intervals between corporate sponsors. During its Miami existence, it successively went by the names Blockbuster Bowl (three editions), CarQuest Bowl (five editions), and the MicronPC Bowl (three editions).

In 2001, the bowl changed hands, and was relocated to Orlando. The bowl was known as the Tangerine Bowl, a historical moniker that was the original title of the game now known as the Citrus Bowl, for three playings. Foot Locker, the parent company of Champs Sports, purchased naming rights in 2004, naming it the Champs Sports Bowl, under which eight games were played. In early 2012, naming rights were agreed to by Russell Athletic;[4] five games were played as the Russell Athletic Bowl. In early 2017, Camping World signed an agreement to be the title sponsor of the game through 2019;[5][2] three editions were staged as the Camping World Bowl, concluding with the 30th playing of the bowl. In May 2020, Cheez-It signed on as the new title sponsor of the game in a multi-year agreement.[6]

Miami

What is now the Cheez-It Bowl was sprung from a desire to hold a second bowl game in the Miami area. It would be an accompaniment to the long-established and well-known Orange Bowl, and would showcase the brand new stadium in the area that was built in 1987. The Orange Bowl game was still being played in the aging old stadium, whereas this new game would be played in the new stadium.

Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga quickly joined forces with bowl organizers and brought in Blockbuster Video, which he owned at the time, as title sponsor.[3] The inaugural game, played on December 28, 1990, pitted Florida State and Penn State, and two legendary coaches, Bobby Bowden versus Joe Paterno in front of over 74,000 at Joe Robbie Stadium.[3] Subsequent games, however, never matched the success of the first, even though the bowl was moved to the more prestigious New Year's Day slot starting in 1993.

In 1994, CarQuest Auto Parts became the title sponsor after Huizenga sold Blockbuster Video to Viacom. The New Year's Day experiment was short lived as the organizers of the more established Orange Bowl received permission to move their game into Joe Robbie Stadium beginning in 1996.[3] That bumped the Carquest Bowl back to the less-desirable December date. After the 2000 playing, Florida Citrus Sports took over the game and moved it to Orlando.

Before gaining Blockbuster Entertainment as the corporate sponsor for the inaugural event, the game was tentatively referred to as the Sunshine Classic.[3]

Orlando

Camping World Stadium in 2015

From 2006 to 2010, the bowl matched teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Conference. Under the terms of a television deal signed with ESPN in 2006, the bowl was to be held after Christmas Day from 2006 onward, and be shown on ESPN in prime time. The change was made to move the game from the less-desirable pre-Christmas date utilized from 2001 to 2004.

From 2005 to 2009, the stadium faced challenges in preparing the stadium for two bowl games in less than one week (the Citrus Bowl is traditionally held New Year's Day). This was also in part due to the Florida high school football championship games being held at the stadium shortly before the bowls. In 2009, rainy weather turned the stadium's grass field into a muddly, sloppy, quagmire for both bowl games. In 2010, the stadium switched to artificial turf, facilitating the quick turnaround necessary.

In 2009, the bowl announced that the Big East was to be one of the tie-in conferences for four years starting in 2010, with the bowl having the option of selecting Notre Dame once during the four years. In October 2009, the bowl announced that they had extended their agreement with the ACC for the same term. The game would match the third pick from the ACC against the second selection from the Big East. The previous agreement had matched the 4th pick from the ACC against the 4th or 5th pick from the Big Ten.[7] ACC and Big East teams subsequently met in the 2010 through 2013 games, except for 2011 when Notre Dame was selected (as permitted in the agreement with the Big East) and in 2013 when the Louisville Cardinals of the American Athletic Conference were selected ("The American" became the football successor to the Big East in 2013).

Since 2014, the game features the second pick from the ACC after the New Year's Six bowls make their picks—usually the losing team from the ACC Football Championship Game, or one of the division runners-up—against the third pick from the Big 12.

Game results

All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played.

No. Date Bowl Name Winning Team Losing Team Attendance
1December 28, 1990Blockbuster Bowl 6 Florida State247 Penn State17 74,021
2December 28, 1991Blockbuster Bowl 8 Alabama3015 Colorado25 46,123
3January 1, 1993Blockbuster Bowl 13 Stanford2421 Penn State3 45,554
4January 1, 1994Carquest Bowl 15 Boston College31Virginia13 38,516
5January 2, 1995Carquest Bowl South Carolina24West Virginia21 50,853
6December 30, 1995Carquest Bowl North Carolina2024 Arkansas10 34,428
7December 27, 1996Carquest Bowl 19 Miami31Virginia21 46,418
8December 29, 1997Carquest Bowl Georgia Tech35West Virginia30 28,262
9December 29, 1998MicronPC Bowl 24 Miami46NC State23 44,387
10December 30, 1999MicronPC.com Bowl Illinois63Virginia21 31,089
11December 28, 2000MicronPC.com Bowl NC State38Minnesota30 28,359
12December 20, 2001Tangerine Bowl Pittsburgh34NC State19 28,562
13December 23, 2002Tangerine Bowl Texas Tech55Clemson15 21,689
14December 22, 2003Tangerine Bowl NC State56Kansas26 26,482
15December 21, 2004Champs Sports Bowl Georgia Tech51Syracuse14 28,237
16December 27, 2005Champs Sports Bowl 23 Clemson19Colorado10 31,470
17December 29, 2006Champs Sports Bowl Maryland24Purdue7 40,168
18December 28, 2007Champs Sports Bowl 14 Boston College24Michigan State21 46,554
19December 27, 2008Champs Sports Bowl Florida State42Wisconsin13 52,692
20December 29, 2009Champs Sports Bowl 24 Wisconsin2014 Miami14 56,747
21December 28, 2010Champs Sports Bowl NC State2322 West Virginia7 48,962
22December 29, 2011Champs Sports Bowl 25 Florida State18Notre Dame14 68,305
23December 28, 2012Russell Athletic Bowl Virginia Tech13Rutgers10 (OT) 48,129
24December 28, 2013Russell Athletic Bowl 18 Louisville36Miami9 51,098
25December 29, 2014Russell Athletic Bowl 18 Clemson40Oklahoma6 40,071
26December 29, 2015Russell Athletic Bowl 18 Baylor4910 North Carolina38 40,418
27December 28, 2016Russell Athletic Bowl Miami3114 West Virginia14 48,625
28December 28, 2017Camping World Bowl 17 Oklahoma State3022 Virginia Tech21 39,610
29December 28, 2018Camping World Bowl 17 Syracuse3415 West Virginia18 41,125
30December 28, 2019Camping World Bowl 14 Notre Dame33Iowa State9 46,948
31December 29, 2020Cheez-It Bowl Oklahoma State3718 Miami (FL)34 0[lower-alpha 1]

Source:[9]

Games 1–11 played in Miami Gardens, Florida
Games 12–present played in Orlando, Florida

MVPs

1997 MVP Joe Hamilton
2008 MVP Graham Gano
2009 MVP John Clay
Date MVP School Position
December 28, 1990Amp LeeFlorida StateRB
December 28, 1991David PalmerAlabamaWR
January 1, 1993Darrien GordonStanfordCB
January 1, 1994Glenn FoleyBoston CollegeQB
January 2, 1995Steve TaneyhillSouth CarolinaQB
December 30, 1995Leon JohnsonNorth CarolinaRB
December 27, 1996Tremain MackMiamiSS
December 29, 1997Joe HamiltonGeorgia TechQB
December 29, 1998Scott CovingtonMiamiQB
December 30, 1999Kurt KittnerIllinoisQB
December 28, 2000Philip RiversNC StateQB
December 20, 2001Antonio BryantPittsburghWR
December 23, 2002Kliff KingsburyTexas TechQB
December 22, 2003Philip RiversNC StateQB
December 21, 2004Reggie BallGeorgia TechQB
December 27, 2005James DavisClemsonRB
December 29, 2006Sam HollenbachMarylandQB
December 28, 2007Jamie SilvaBoston CollegeFS
December 27, 2008Graham GanoFlorida StateK/P
December 29, 2009John ClayWisconsinRB
December 28, 2010Russell WilsonNC StateQB
December 29, 2011Rashad GreeneFlorida StateWR
December 28, 2012Antone ExumVirginia TechCB
December 28, 2013Teddy BridgewaterLouisvilleQB
December 29, 2014Cole StoudtClemsonQB
December 29, 2015Johnny JeffersonBaylorRB
December 28, 2016Brad KaayaMiamiQB
December 28, 2017Mason RudolphOklahoma StateQB
December 28, 2018Eric DungeySyracuseQB
December 28, 2019Chase ClaypoolNotre DameWR
December 29, 2020Spencer SandersOklahoma StateQB

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2020 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances
Rank Team Appearances Record Win pct.
1Miami63–3.500
T2NC State53–2.600
T2West Virginia50–5.000
T4Florida State33–01.000
T4Clemson32–1.667
T4Virginia30–3.000
T7Boston College22–01.000
T7Georgia Tech22–01.000
T7Oklahoma State22–01.000
T7North Carolina21–1.500
T7Notre Dame21–1.500
T7Syracuse21–1.500
T7Virginia Tech21–1.500
T7Wisconsin21–1.500
T7Colorado20–2.000
T7Penn State20–2.000
Teams with a single appearance

Won: Alabama, Baylor, Illinois, Louisville, Maryland, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Stanford, Texas Tech
Lost: Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Purdue, Rutgers

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2020 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances).

Conference Record Appearances by season
Games W L Win pct. Won Lost
ACC261511.5771995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 20181993*, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020
The American1055.5001993*, 1996, 1998, 2001, 20131994*, 1997, 2004, 2010, 2012
Big 121046.4002002, 2015, 2017, 20202003, 2005, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019
Big Ten624.3331999, 20092000, 2006, 2007, 2008
Independents523.4001990, 20191990, 1992*, 2011
SEC321.6671991, 1994*1995
Pac-101101.0001992* 
Big Eight101.000 1991
  • Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
  • The American record includes appearances of the Big East Conference, as The American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its 2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in nine games, compiling a 4–5 record.
  • The Big Eight Conference dissolved after the 1995 season.
  • Independents: Penn State (1990, 1992), Florida State (1990), Notre Dame (2011, 2019)

Game records

Team Record, Team vs. Opponent Year
Most points scored (one team) 63, Illinois vs. Virginia 1999
Most points scored (both teams) 87, Baylor vs. North Carolina 2015
Most points scored (losing team) 38, North Carolina vs. Baylor 2015
Fewest points allowed 3, Stanford vs. Penn State 1993 (Jan.)
Largest margin of victory 42, Illinois vs. Virginia 1999
Total yards 512, Miami vs. Oklahoma State 2020
Rushing yards 645, Baylor vs. North Carolina 2015
Passing yards 481, NC State vs. Kansas 2003
First downs 38, Baylor vs. North Carolina 2015
Fewest yards allowed
Fewest rushing yards allowed 3, Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers 2012
Fewest passing yards allowed
Individual Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent Year
All-purpose yards327, Koren Robinson (NC State)2000
Touchdowns (all-purpose)
Rushing yards299, Johnny Jefferson (Baylor)2015
Rushing touchdowns3, Johnny Jefferson (Baylor)2015
Passing yards475, Phillip Rivers (NC State)2003
Passing touchdowns5, Phillip Rivers (NC State)2003
Receiving yards171, Jerricho Cotchery (NC State)2003
Receiving touchdowns3, Brennan Presley (Oklahoma State)2020
Tackles22 Donnie Miles (North Carolina)2015
Sacks3, Kendall Coleman (Syracuse)2018
Interceptions2, shared by:
Brandon Jones (Rutgers)
Jamie Silva (Boston College)
Ronde Barber (Virginia)
Vincent Meeks (Texas Tech)

2012
2007
1996
2002
Long Plays Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent Year
Touchdown run84 yds., Tony Jones Jr. (Notre Dame)2019
Touchdown pass87 yds., Mike Thomas to LC Stevens (North Carolina)1995
Kickoff return90 yds., Gregory Gordon (NC State)2001
Punt return59 yds., Wes Welker (Texas Tech)2002
Interception return
Fumble return
Punt68 yds., John Torp (Colorado)2005
Field goal49 yds., Evan Staley (West Virginia)2018
Miscellaneous Record, Teams Year
Longest Time of Possession39:48, Maryland vs. Purdue2006
Largest attendance74,021, Florida State vs. Penn State1990
Most Appearances6, Miami (FL)1996, 1998, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2020
Most Victories3, shared by:
Miami (FL)
NC State
Florida State

1996, 1998, 2016
2000, 2003, 2010
1990, 2008, 2011

Source:[10]

Media coverage

The bowl was televised by Raycom in its inaugural year, followed by CBS Sports (four editions), TBS (six editions), and ESPN since 2001.

Notes

  1. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no reported attendance at the 2020 game.[8]

References

  1. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. "About". campingworldbowl.com. 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  3. "The Making of a Blockbuster: How Wayne Huizenga Built a Sports and Entertainment Empire from Trash, Grit, and Videotape". Wiley. 1997. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  4. "Russell Athletic Bowl History". RussellAthleticBowl.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  5. "CAMPING WORLD SIGNS ON AS TITLE SPONSOR OF ORLANDO BOWL". campingworldbowl.com. April 11, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  6. "Cheez-It® Heads To Orlando To Join Florida Citrus Sports Beginning With 2020 Season". cheezitbowl.com. May 27, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  7. Adelson, Andrea (October 7, 2009). "College football: ACC improves deal with Champs Sports Bowl; will send No. 3 team to Orlando beginning in 2010". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2009 via Wayback Machine.
  8. "2020 Cheez-It Bowl Game Notes" (PDF). OKState.com.
  9. "Camping World Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 11. Retrieved January 3, 2021 via NCAA.org.
  10. "Game Records". Cheez-It Bowl Game Day Program. University Sports Publications Co. Florida Citrus Sports. December 2020. pp. 20, 23. Retrieved December 27, 2020 via publogix.com.

Further reading

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