Boardwalk Bowl

The Boardwalk Bowl was a post-season college football game held at the former Atlantic City Convention Center (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 1961 to 1973.[1][2]

Boardwalk Bowl (defunct)
NCAA College Division regional final (1968–1972)
NCAA Division II quarterfinal (1973)
StadiumAtlantic City Convention Center
LocationAtlantic City, New Jersey
Operated1961–1973

History

Inaugurated in 1961, the game featured an annual matchup between Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) and the United States Merchant Marine Academy, known as the "Little Army–Navy Game" until 1967.[3] The playing surface in the earlier years consisted of natural grass sod that was grown outside and then moved indoors for the game.

In 1968, it succeeded the Tangerine Bowl as one of the four regional finals in the College Division (which became Division II and Division III in 1973).[4] The other three regionals were the Pecan (later Pioneer), Grantland Rice, and Camellia bowls. In 1973, under a new playoff system, the Boardwalk Bowl became a Division II national quarterfinal, while the other three quarterfinals were nameless and played at campus sites. The semifinals were the Pioneer and Grantland Rice bowls, and the Camellia was the championship game. After 1973, the Boardwalk Bowl was discontinued as the NCAA eventually moved the Division II semifinals to unnamed games at campus venues, similar to earlier rounds.

The Boardwalk Bowl, along with the Liberty Bowl (played in the Convention Center in December 1964), showed the feasibility of playing football indoors and led the promoters of football games to look seriously at developing indoor facilities primarily for this purpose.

Game results
DateWinnerLoserGame
December 2, 1961Pennsylvania Military35Merchant Marine14Little Army–Navy Game
December 1, 1962Merchant Marine9Pennsylvania Military0
November 30, 1963Merchant Marine27Pennsylvania Military13
November 28, 1964Merchant Marine20Pennsylvania Military16
November 27, 1965Merchant Marine22Pennsylvania Military12
November 26, 1966Merchant Marine46Pennsylvania Military7
November 25, 1967Merchant Marine39Pennsylvania Military6
December 14, 1968Delaware31IUP24NCAA College Division
Regional Final
December 13, 1969Delaware31North Carolina Central13
December 12, 1970Delaware38Morgan State23
December 11, 1971Delaware72C.W. Post22
December 9, 1972UMass35UC Davis14
December 1, 1973Grambling17Delaware8NCAA Division II Quarterfinal

See also

References
  1. Mazda, Jason (December 31, 2014). "50 years ago, indoor college football debuted in Atlantic City". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  2. Depp, Carson (September 15, 2020). "Top five football seasons in UMass history". The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  3. Horner, Louis (2016). Who Will Water the Flowers?. Dog Ear Publishing p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4575-4505-4.
  4. Fulton, Bob (December 14, 2018). "IUP nearly pulled off major upset in '68 Boardwalk Bowl". Indiana Gazette. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
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