Houston Bowl (defunct)
EV1.net Houston Bowl
StadiumReliant Stadium (2002–05)
Astrodome (2000–01)
LocationHouston, Texas
Operated2000–05
Conference tie-insBig 12 (2000-05)
C-USA (2000–02)
PayoutUS$$750,000 (2000)[1]
Preceded byBluebonnet Bowl (1987)
Succeeded byTexas Bowl (2006)
Sponsors
galleryfurniture.com (2000–01)
EV1.net (2002–05)
Former names
galleryfurniture.com Bowl (2000–01)

The Houston Bowl was an NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was played annually in Houston, Texas, from 2000 to 2005. For its first two years, the game was known as the galleryfurniture.com Bowl, named for the website of the sponsor, a Houston furniture chain operated by Jim McIngvale, better known as "Mattress Mack". In 2002, the Houston Bowl was born and later named the EV1.net Houston Bowl, after sponsor EV1.net, for the remainder of the game's existence.

History

The Houston Bowl marked the return of bowl games to Houston for the first time since the final Bluebonnet Bowl in 1987. The bowl played in two locations during its tenure. For the 2000 and 2001 games, Houston's Astrodome was the venue. In 2002, the game moved to Reliant Stadium, the home of the NFL's Houston Texans.

The bowl initially had tie-ins with the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA.[1] The Big 12 extended their commitment in 2002[2] and again in 2005.[3] Big 12 teams played in each of the six bowls, compiling a 4–2 record.

After the 2005 game, the bowl failed to return EV1.net as a sponsor.[4] Game management was turned over to the Texans,[5] and the NFL Network changed the game's name to the Texas Bowl.[6] While the 2006 playing of the Texas Bowl maintained continuity of having a Houston-based bowl game, NCAA records treat the Texas Bowl and Houston Bowl as separate games.[7]

Game results

Date Winner Loser Notes
December 27, 2000 East Carolina 40 Texas Tech 27 notes
December 28, 2001 Texas A&M 28 TCU 9 notes
December 27, 2002 Oklahoma State 33 Southern Miss 23 notes
December 30, 2003 Texas Tech 38 Navy 14 notes
December 29, 2004 Colorado 33 UTEP 28 notes
December 31, 2005 No. 14 TCU 27 Iowa State 24 notes

MVPs

Date played MVPs Team Position
December 27, 2000 David Garrard East Carolina QB
Bernard Williams East Carolina DT
December 28, 2001 Byron Jones Texas A&M DB
Joe Weber Texas A&M RB
December 27, 2002 Rashaun Woods Oklahoma State WR
Kevin Williams Oklahoma State DT
December 30, 2003 B. J. Symons Texas Tech QB
Adell Duckett Texas Tech DL
December 29, 2004 Joel Klatt Colorado QB
Tom Hubbard Colorado S
December 31, 2005 Jeff Ballard TCU QB
Jason Berryman Iowa State DL

Appearances by team

Rank Team Appearances Record Win %
T1 TCU 2 1–1 .500
T1 Texas Tech 2 1–1 .500
T2 Colorado 1 1–0 1.000
T2 East Carolina 1 1–0 1.000
T2 Oklahoma State 1 1–0 1.000
T2 Texas A&M 1 1–0 1.000
T2 Iowa State 1 0–1 .000
T2 Navy 1 0–1 .000
T2 Southern Miss 1 0–1 .000
T2 UTEP 1 0–1 .000

Appearances by conference

Rank Conference Appearances Record Win % # of Teams Teams
1 Big 12 6 4–2 .667 5 Texas Tech (1–1)

Colorado (1–0)
Oklahoma State (1–0)
Texas A&M (1–0)
Iowa State (0–1)

2 C-USA 3 1–2 .333 East Carolina (1–0)

Southern Miss (0–1)
TCU (0–1)

T3 MWC 1 1–0 1.000 TCU (1–0)
T3 Independent 1 0–1 .000 Navy (0–1)
T3 WAC 1 0–1 .000 UTEP (0–1)

References

  1. ^ a b "Two More College Bowls". Hartford Courant. April 22, 2000. Retrieved May 20, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Big 12 Signs Contracts with Six Bowls". big12sports.com (Press release). April 4, 2002. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  3. ^ "EV1.Net Houston Bowl Extends Alliance With The Big 12 Conference And Adds The Big East Conference And Notre Dame To Its 2006-2009 Matchup". big12sports.com (Press release). November 15, 2005. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  4. ^ Duarte, Joseph (18 April 2006). "Houston Bowl in jeopardy". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  5. ^ Chavez, Ana (29 August 2006). "Texas Bowl Board of Directors announced". houstontexans.com (Press release).
  6. ^ "NFL Network gets bowl game in Houston". NFL.com. 20 July 2006. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006.
  7. ^ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2016/Bowls.pdf[bare URL PDF]

External links

Galleryfurniture.com / Houston Bowl
NCAA Division I FBS bowl games
Categories