document_title: Fiesta Bowl

question_text: where does the fiesta bowl parade take place

text: Fiesta Bowl

text: History[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Origins (1968–1971)[edit]

text: The Fiesta Bowl was born from the Western Athletic Conference's frustrated attempts to obtain bowl invitations for its champions. In 1968 and 1969 respectively, champions Wyoming and Arizona State failed to secure any bowl selection. The next year, undefeated Arizona State was bypassed by the major bowls and had to settle for an appearance in the less prestigious Peach Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl therefore initially provided an automatic berth for the WAC champion.

text: In its first decade of existence, the Fiesta Bowl was played in the last week of December (including the afternoon of Christmas Day from 1976 to 1979). The 1971 inaugural game featured another top-ten Arizona State squad against top-twenty opponent Florida State. The 1974 game featured WAC champ BYU and their new coach, future Hall of Fame member LaVell Edwards in their first ever bowl game vs. Oklahoma State. BYU was in control until BYU's first All-American quarterback Gary Sheide went down with a leg injury and eventually lost 16–6. By 1975, the game was able to attract Big Eight co-champion Nebraska to play undefeated Arizona State in a matchup of top-five teams. In 1977, the game was again able to attract a top-five opponent in Penn State, despite WAC champion #16 BYU refusing to play in the bowl due to its being held on Sunday.

text: In 1978, Arizona and Arizona State both joined the Pac-10 Conference and the Fiesta Bowl's tie-in with the WAC ended as its champ went to the newly-inaugurated Holiday Bowl. From then until the advent of the Bowl Coalition, Fiesta Bowl matchups typically featured runners-up of major conferences and/or major independents.

text: The game continued to attract high quality matchups, so beginning with the 1981 game the Fiesta Bowl shifted to New Year's Day alongside the major bowl games—the Cotton, Orange, Sugar, and Rose. The Fiesta Bowl was the first bowl game to acquire a title sponsor when it became the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl starting with the 1986 game.

text: A major breakthrough occurred after the 1986 season when the top two teams in the country, Miami and Penn State, agreed to play for the de facto national championship in the Fiesta Bowl. At the time, the traditional four "major" bowl games granted automatic bids to their conference champions. Both Miami and Penn State were independents at that time, and were thus free to choose a bowl. As such, the Fiesta Bowl and the Florida Citrus Bowl, each free from the obligation of conference tie-ins, vied to host the Miami–Penn State matchup in order to ensure that they would meet on the field. The Fiesta Bowl won the bidding and the game was set to be played on January 2, 1987—a day after the "big four" bowls. Penn State won 14–10 over Miami, and the game drew the largest television audience in the history of college football at the time. Two years later, #1 Notre Dame played undefeated #3 West Virginia for the national championship at the 1989 Fiesta Bowl.

text: The 1987 and 1989 games were two of four straight matchups of teams ranked in the AP Top 10 going into the bowl season to close out the 1980s. This significantly increased the Fiesta Bowl's prestige, to the point that it was now considered a major bowl by many fans and pundits.

text: Before the 1991 game, several major universities declined invitations due to the State of Arizona's decision at that time not to adopt the Martin Luther King Holiday. However, in 1992, the Fiesta Bowl was invited to participate in the Bowl Coalition, a predecessor to the Bowl Championship Series. This assured the game would feature major conference champions or prestigious runners-up and cemented its status as a major bowl. When the Bowl Coalition was reconfigured as the Bowl Alliance, the Fiesta was included as one of the three top games.

text: In 1996, it hosted the Bowl Alliance National Championship game featuring undefeated #1 Nebraska playing undefeated #2 Florida for the national championship. Nebraska won the game 62–24, the largest win margin in the history of the national championship game, and the most points ever scored in a national championship game. Finally, with the addition of the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences to the new Bowl Championship Series, the Fiesta Bowl became a permanent fixture in the four-year BCS National Championship Game rotation. In 1998, the Fiesta Bowl featured the first BCS National Championship Game, which Tennessee won over Florida State, 23 to 16.

text: Starting with the 1999 season, the Fiesta Bowl began hosting the Big 12 Conference champion in years when it was not slated as the BCS title game, an arrangement that continued to the end of the BCS era.

text: In 2002, the Fiesta Bowl had the right to take the Pac-10 Conference Champion, should that team not reach the Rose Bowl, which served as the national championship game that season. Oregon failed to qualify for the championship game, and thus played Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl. A similar arrangement was made for the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. However, instead of gaining the Pac-10 Conference champion in addition to their usual tie-in with the Big 12, the Fiesta Bowl would have had a choice of the two teams. This turned out to be a moot point as both the Big 12 champion Texas and Pac-10 champion Southern California qualified for the National Championship Game (USC's participation has since been vacated).[7]

text: The BCS National Championship game returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 2003 with the Big Ten champions Ohio State Buckeyes beating the Big East champions Miami Hurricanes in the first overtime national championship game. The game went into double overtime with the Buckeyes coming out on top 31–24 to claim the 2002 national championship.

text: The Fiesta Bowl was the first BCS bowl to have had an entry from outside the parameters of the BCS (the Big 12, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Southeastern Conference (SEC), Pac-10, Big East, and Notre Dame had tie-ins, while all of the other conferences did not). The 2005 game saw undefeated Utah from the Mountain West Conference become the first non-BCS school ever to play in a BCS game, easily defeating Big East champion Pittsburgh 35–7.

text: In 2007, the Fiesta Bowl game was played for the first time at the new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, across the Phoenix metropolitan area from Sun Devil Stadium. The undefeated Boise State Broncos won by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 43–42 in overtime. It has been called one of the greatest college football games ever played, due to the combination of an underdog team, trick plays, comebacks by each team, and a thrilling overtime finish.[8]

text: The 2010 Fiesta Bowl featured #6 Boise State defeating #4 TCU, 17-10. It was the first time a BCS bowl matched-up two non-automatic qualifying teams (i.e. two teams from conferences without automatic BCS bids) and the first time that two teams who went undefeated faced each other in a BCS game outside of the national championship. In the 2011 Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma State defeated Stanford 41–38. Notable players included Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon for Oklahoma State, and Andrew Luck for Stanford.

text: The December 2016 Fiesta Bowl served as a semifinal for the College Football Playoff. The Fiesta Bowl will host a semifinal, alongside the Peach Bowl, again in 2019, 2022, and 2025.

text: In November 2016, PlayStation was announced as the bowl's new title sponsor.[3]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Invitations[edit]

text: In 1996, a group of students from Brigham Young University, led by BYU professor Dennis Martin, burned bags of Tostitos tortilla chips in a bonfire and called for a boycott of all Tostitos products.[9] This came after #5 ranked BYU was not invited to play in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl in favor of #7 ranked Penn State. This event is one of those referred to by proponents of college football implementing a playoff series rather than the controversial Bowl Alliance. Penn State went on to win the game over #20 Texas 38–15, while BYU defeated #14 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl Classic 19–15.[10]

text: For the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, the selections of TCU and Boise State caused a great deal of controversy. For the first and only time in the BCS era, two "non-BCS" or "non-AQ" teams were chosen to play in BCS bowls in the same bowl season: however, they ended up facing each other in this bowl. Because both non-AQ teams were placed in the same bowl game, the bowl was derisively referred to as the "Separate But Equal Bowl",[11] the "Quarantine Bowl", the "Fiasco Bowl", the "BCS Kids' Table",[12] etc. Some had called for a boycott because of this.[13] There was wide speculation that the BCS bowl selection committees maneuvered TCU and Boise State into the same bowl so as to deny them the chances to "embarrass" two AQ conference representatives in separate bowls, as Boise State had done in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and Utah had done in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and 2009 Sugar Bowl (prior to the game, non-AQ teams were 3–1 versus AQ teams in BCS bowls).[12][14] In response, Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker called those allegations "the biggest load of crap that I've ever heard in my life" and said that "We're in the business of doing things that are on behalf of our bowl game and we don't do the bidding of someone else to our detriment."[15] Beyond the unappealing nature of a "David vs. David" contest which resulted from this pairing in a major bowl, the appeal was further diminished due to the fact that it was a rematch of the Poinsettia Bowl from the previous bowl season.

text: Financial scandals[edit]

text: In 2009, in the weeks prior to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, past and present Fiesta Bowl employees alleged that they were encouraged to help maintain its position as one of the four BCS bowls by making campaign contributions to politicians friendly to the Fiesta Bowl, with those contributions subsequently reimbursed to the employees. If true, this would be a violation of both state and federal campaign finance laws.[16] Furthermore, as a non-profit organization, the Fiesta Bowl is prohibited from making political contributions of any kind.[17] The Fiesta Bowl commissioned an "independent review" which found "no credible evidence that the bowl's management engaged in any type of illegal or unethical conduct."[18]

text: The following year, in a November 2010 article, Sports Illustrated reported that Fiesta Bowl officials, including bowl CEO John Junker, spent $4 million since 2000 to curry favor from BCS bigwigs and elected officials, including a 2008 "Fiesta Frolic", a golf-centered gathering of athletic directors and head coaches. The journal also reported that Junker's annual salary was close to $600,000 and that the bowl, in 2007 turned an $11.6 million profit.[19] While these alleged activities are not illegal, they did result in considerable damage to the reputation of the Fiesta Bowl.

text: On March 29, 2011, the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors released a 276-page "scathing internal report", commissioned by them to re-examine the accusations of illegal political activities.[20] The commission determined that $46,539 of illegal campaign contributions were made and the board immediately fired Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker, who had already been suspended pending the results of this investigation.[21] The scandal threatened the Fiesta Bowl's status as a BCS game, as the BCS said it might replace the bowl in its lineup if officials could not convince them it should remain.[22][23] The BCS ultimately chose not to expel the Fiesta Bowl, instead fining the organization $1 million.

text: In June 2011 University of Arizona president Robert Shelton was hired to replace Junker.[24] On February 22, 2012, former CEO John Junker pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge in the campaign financing matter, and two members of his former staff pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.[25] Junker was to be sentenced soon after, facing up to 2.5 years in prison as the result of his plea, but as of January 2014 his sentencing has been repeatedly postponed in return for cooperation in other cases.[26][27] In March 2014, Junker was sentenced to eight months in prison, with the sentence starting on June 13, 2014;[28] he was released on February 11, 2015.[29] On March 20, 2014, Junker was sentenced to three years of probation on state charges.[30]

text: Broadcasting[edit]

text: As of the 2010–11 season, the game along with the rest of the BCS, exclusively airs on ESPN.[31] From 2007 through 2010, Fox telecast the game along with the other BCS games – the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and BCS National Championship Game from 2006 though 2009, while only the Rose Bowl and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game aired on ABC in that period. From 1999 to 2006, the game aired on ABC as part of the first BCS package, and from 1996 to 1998 the game aired on CBS as part of its bowl coverage. Prior to that, NBC aired the game for several years. This game, along with the Orange Bowl, is one of only two bowl games ever to air on all the "Big 4" broadcast television networks in the United States.

text: ESPN Radio is the current radio home for the Fiesta Bowl.

text: In 2013, ESPN Deportes provided the first Spanish U.S. telecast of the Fiesta Bowl.[32]

text: Parade[edit]

text: In addition to the game, the annual Bank of Arizona Fiesta Bowl Parade takes place in downtown Phoenix, which includes marching bands from high schools as well as the two universities participating in the Fiesta Bowl and the two universities participating in the Cactus Bowl, along with floats, equestrian units, and a seven-member queen and court. It started back in 1973. Past Grand Marshals include many celebrities from sports and entertainment.

text: Game results[edit]

text: Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played. Italics denote a tie game.

text:
Date played
Winning team
Losing team
Notes

December 27, 1971
#8 Arizona State
45
Florida State
38
Notes

December 23, 1972
#15 Arizona State
49
Missouri
35
Notes

December 21, 1973
#10 Arizona State
28
Pittsburgh
7
Notes

December 28, 1974
Oklahoma State
16
#17 BYU
6
Notes

December 26, 1975
#7 Arizona State
17
#6 Nebraska
14
Notes

December 25, 1976
#8 Oklahoma
41
Wyoming
7
Notes

December 25, 1977
#8 Penn State
42
#15 Arizona State
30
Notes

December 25, 1978
#8 Arkansas
10
#15 UCLA
10
Notes

December 25, 1979
#10 Pittsburgh
16
Arizona
10
Notes

December 26, 1980
#10 Penn State
31
#11 Ohio State
19
Notes

January 1, 1982
#7 Penn State
26
#8 USC
10
Notes

January 1, 1983
#11 Arizona State
32
#12 Oklahoma
21
Notes

January 2, 1984
#14 Ohio State
28
#15 Pittsburgh
23
Notes

January 1, 1985
#14 UCLA
39
#13 Miami (Florida)
37
Notes

January 1, 1986
#5 Michigan
27
#7 Nebraska
23
Notes

January 2, 1987
#2 Penn State
14
#1 Miami (Florida)
10
Notes

January 1, 1988
#3 Florida State
31
#5 Nebraska
28
Notes

January 2, 1989
#1 Notre Dame
34
#3 West Virginia
21
Notes

January 1, 1990
#5 Florida State
41
#6 Nebraska
17
Notes

January 1, 1991
#18 Louisville
34
#25 Alabama
7
Notes

January 1, 1992
#6 Penn State
42
#10 Tennessee
17
Notes

January 1, 1993
#6 Syracuse
26
#10 Colorado
22
Notes

January 1, 1994
#16 Arizona
29
#10 Miami (Florida)
0
Notes

January 2, 1995
#4 Colorado
41
Notre Dame
24
Notes

January 2, 1996BA
#1 Nebraska
62
#2 Florida
24
Notes

January 1, 1997
#7 Penn State
38
#20 Texas
15
Notes

December 31, 1997
#10 Kansas State
35
#14 Syracuse
18
Notes

January 4, 1999BCS
#1 Tennessee
23
#2 Florida State
16
Notes

January 2, 2000
#3 Nebraska
31
#6 Tennessee
21
Notes

January 1, 2001
#5 Oregon State
41
#10 Notre Dame
9
Notes

January 1, 2002
#2 Oregon
38
#3 Colorado
16
Notes

January 3, 2003BCS
#2 Ohio State
31
#1 Miami (Florida)
24 (2 OT)
Notes

January 2, 2004
#7 Ohio State
35
#8 Kansas State
28
Notes

January 1, 2005
#5 Utah
35
#19 Pittsburgh
7
Notes

January 2, 2006
#4 Ohio State
34
#5 Notre Dame
20
Notes

January 1, 2007
#9 Boise State
43
#7 Oklahoma
42 (OT)
Notes

January 2, 2008
#11 West Virginia
48
#3 Oklahoma
28
Notes

January 5, 2009
#3 Texas
24
#10 Ohio State
21
Notes

January 4, 2010
#6 Boise State
17
#3 TCU
10
Notes

January 1, 2011
#9 Oklahoma
48
#25 Connecticut
20
Notes

January 2, 2012
#3 Oklahoma State
41
#4 Stanford
38 (OT)
Notes

January 3, 2013
#5 Oregon
35
#7 Kansas State
17
Notes

January 1, 2014
#15 UCF
52
#6 Baylor
42
Notes

December 31, 2014
#21 Boise State
38
#12 Arizona
30
Notes

January 1, 2016
#7 Ohio State
44
#8 Notre Dame
28
Notes

December 31, 2016CFP
#2 Clemson
31
#3 Ohio State
0
Notes

December 30, 2017
#9 Penn State
35
#12 Washington
28
Notes

text: Game MVPs[edit]

text:
Date played
MVPs
Team
Position

December 27, 1971
Gary Huff
Florida State
QB

Junior Ah You
Arizona State
DE

December 23, 1972
Woody Green
Arizona State
HB

Mike Fink
Missouri
DB

December 21, 1973
Greg Hudson
Arizona State
SE

Mike Haynes
Arizona State
CB

December 28, 1974
Kenny Walker
Oklahoma State
RB

Phil Dokes
Oklahoma State
DT

December 26, 1975
John Jefferson
Arizona State
WR

Larry Gordon
Arizona State
LB

December 25, 1976
Thomas Lott
Oklahoma
QB

Terry Peters
Oklahoma
CB

December 25, 1977
Matt Millen
Penn State
LB

Dennis Sproul
Arizona State
QB

December 25, 1978
James Owens
UCLA
RB

Jimmy Walker
Arkansas
DT

December 25, 1979
Mark Schubert
Pittsburgh
K

Dave Liggins
Arizona
S

December 26, 1980
Curt Warner
Penn State
RB

Frank Case
Penn State
DE

January 1, 1982
Curt Warner
Penn State
RB

Leo Wisniewski
Penn State
NT

January 1, 1983
Marcus Dupree
Oklahoma
RB

Jim Jeffcoat
Arizona State
DL

January 2, 1984
John Congemi
Pittsburgh
QB

Rowland Tatum
Ohio State
LB

January 1, 1985
Gaston Green
UCLA
TB

James Washington
UCLA
DB

January 1, 1986
Jamie Morris
Michigan
RB

Mark Messner
Michigan
DT

January 2, 1987
D.J. Dozier
Penn State
RB

Shane Conlan
Penn State
LB

January 1, 1988
Danny McManus
Florida State
QB

Neil Smith
Nebraska
DL

January 2, 1989
Tony Rice
Notre Dame
QB

Frank Stams
Notre Dame
DE

January 1, 1990
Peter Tom Willis
Florida State
QB

Odell Haggins
Florida State
NG

January 1, 1991
Browning Nagle
Louisville
QB

Ray Buchanan
Louisville
FS

January 1, 1992
O.J. McDuffie
Penn State
WR

Reggie Givens
Penn State
OLB

January 1, 1993
Marvin Graves
Syracuse
QB

Kevin Mitchell
Syracuse
NG

January 1, 1994
Chuck Levy
Arizona
RB

Tedy Bruschi
Arizona
DE

January 2, 1995
Kordell Stewart
Colorado
QB

Shannon Clavelle
Colorado
DT

Date played
MVPs
Team
Position

January 2, 1996
Tommie Frazier
Nebraska
QB

Michael Booker
Nebraska
CB

January 1, 1997
Curtis Enis
Penn State
TB

Brandon Noble
Penn State
DT

December 31, 1997
Michael Bishop
Kansas State
QB

Travis Ochs
Kansas State
LB

January 4, 1999
Peerless Price
Tennessee
WR

Dwayne Goodrich
Tennessee
CB

January 2, 2000
Eric Crouch
Nebraska
QB

Mike Brown
Nebraska
DB

January 1, 2001
Jonathan Smith
Oregon State
QB

Darnell Robinson
Oregon State
LB

January 1, 2002
Joey Harrington
Oregon
QB

Steve Smith
Oregon
DB

January 3, 2003
Craig Krenzel
Ohio State
QB

Mike Doss
Ohio State
SS

January 2, 2004
Craig Krenzel
Ohio State
QB

A. J. Hawk
Ohio State
OLB

January 1, 2005
Alex Smith
Utah
QB

Paris Warren
Utah
WR

Steve Fifita
Utah
NG

January 2, 2006
Troy Smith
Ohio State
QB

A. J. Hawk
Ohio State
OLB

January 1, 2007
Jared Zabransky
Boise State
QB

Marty Tadman
Boise State
S

January 2, 2008
Pat White
West Virginia
QB

Reed Williams
West Virginia
OLB

January 5, 2009
Colt McCoy
Texas
QB

Roy Miller
Texas
DT

January 4, 2010
Kyle Efaw
Boise State
TE

Brandyn Thompson
Boise State
CB

January 1, 2011
Landry Jones
Oklahoma
QB

Jamell Fleming
Oklahoma
CB

January 2, 2012
Justin Blackmon
Oklahoma State
WR

Justin Gilbert
Oklahoma State
CB

January 3, 2013
Marcus Mariota
Oregon
QB

Michael Clay
Oregon
LB

January 1, 2014
Blake Bortles
UCF
QB

Terrance Plummer
UCF
LB

December 31, 2014
Thomas Sperbeck
Boise State
WR

Tanner Vallejo
Boise State
LB

January 1, 2016
J.T. Barrett
Ohio State
QB

Eli Apple
Ohio State
CB

December 31, 2016
Deshaun Watson
Clemson
QB

Clelin Ferrell
Clemson
DE

December 30, 2017
Trace McSorley
Penn State
QB

Marcus Allen
Penn State
S

text: Appearances by team[edit]

text: Only teams with at least three appearances are listed.

text:
Rank
Team
Appearances
Record

1
Ohio State
8
5–3

2
Penn State
7
7–0

T3
Arizona State
6
5–1

T3
Nebraska
6
2–4

T5
Oklahoma
5
2–3

T5
Notre Dame
5
1–4

T7
Florida State
4
2–2

T7
Pittsburgh
4
1–3

T7
Miami
4
0–4

T10
Boise State
3
3–0

T10
Arizona
3
1–2

T10
Colorado
3
1–2

T10
Kansas State
3
1–2

T10
Tennessee
3
1–2

text: Appearances by conference[edit]

text: Through the December 2017 playing, there have been 47 games (94 total appearances).

text:
Rank
Conference
Appearances
Won
Lost
Tied
Pct.

1
Independents[n 1]
20
10
10
0
.500

T2
Pac-12[n 2]
12
6
5
1
.542

T2
Big 12
12
5
7
0
.417

T4
Big Ten
11
8
3
0
.727

T4
Big Eight
11
4
7
0
.364

6
WAC
9
6
3
0
.667

7
The American[n 3]
8
3
5
0
.375

8
SEC
5
1
4
0
.200

9
Mountain West
3
2
1
0
.667

10
ACC
2
1
1
0
.500

11
SWC
1
0
0
1
.500

text:
Jump up ^ Records reflect conference affiliations at the time the game was played; several teams—such as Penn State and Miami (Florida)—have appeared both as an Independent and as a conference member.
Jump up ^ Includes appearances by teams when the conference was the Pac-10 (5–2–1).
Jump up ^ Following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines, the FBS schools reorganized as the American Athletic Conference, which retains the charter of the original Big East. Teams representing the Big East appeared in 7 games, compiling a 2–5 record.

tag: ol

text: Game records[edit]

text:
Team
Performance vs. Opponent
Year

Most points scored
62, Nebraska vs Florida (24)
1996

Fewest points allowed
0, Clemson (31) vs. Ohio State
0, Arizona (29) vs. Miami
2016
1994

First downs
33, Texas vs. Ohio State
33, Arizona State vs. Missouri
2009
1972

Rushing yards
524, Nebraska vs. Florida
1996

Passing yards
458, Louisville vs. Alabama
1991

Total yards
718, Arizona State vs. Missouri
1972

Individual
Performance, Team vs. Opponent
Year

Total Offense
431, Browning Nagle, Louisville vs. Alabama (39 plays)
1991

Rushing Yards
245, Marcus Dupree, Oklahoma vs. Arizona State (17 att., 0 TD)
1983

Rushing TDs
4, Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
4, Woody Green, Arizona State vs. Missouri
2016
1972

Long plays
Performance, Team vs. Opponent
Year

Touchdown run
92, Saquon Barkley, Penn State vs. Washington
2017

Touchdown pass
85, Troy Smith to Santonio Holmes, Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
2006