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 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Stadium | Camping World Stadium |
| Location | Orlando, Florida |
| Previous stadiums | Joe Robbie Stadium (1990–2000) |
| Previous locations | Miami Gardens, Florida (1990–2000) |
| Operated | 1990–present |
| Championship affiliation | Bowl Coalition (1992) |
| Conference tie-ins | ACC, Big 12 |
| Previous conference tie-ins | Big Ten, Big East |
| Payout | US$6,071,760 (2019)[1] |
| Sponsors | |
| |
| Former names | |
| |
| 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
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.
Source:[9]
- Games 1–11 played in Miami Gardens, Florida
- Games 12–present played in Orlando, Florida
MVPs
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| Date | MVP | School | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 28, 1990 | Amp Lee | Florida State | RB |
| December 28, 1991 | David Palmer | Alabama | WR |
| January 1, 1993 | Darrien Gordon | Stanford | CB |
| January 1, 1994 | Glenn Foley | Boston College | QB |
| January 2, 1995 | Steve Taneyhill | South Carolina | QB |
| December 30, 1995 | Leon Johnson | North Carolina | RB |
| December 27, 1996 | Tremain Mack | Miami | SS |
| December 29, 1997 | Joe Hamilton | Georgia Tech | QB |
| December 29, 1998 | Scott Covington | Miami | QB |
| December 30, 1999 | Kurt Kittner | Illinois | QB |
| December 28, 2000 | Philip Rivers | NC State | QB |
| December 20, 2001 | Antonio Bryant | Pittsburgh | WR |
| December 23, 2002 | Kliff Kingsbury | Texas Tech | QB |
| December 22, 2003 | Philip Rivers | NC State | QB |
| December 21, 2004 | Reggie Ball | Georgia Tech | QB |
| December 27, 2005 | James Davis | Clemson | RB |
| December 29, 2006 | Sam Hollenbach | Maryland | QB |
| December 28, 2007 | Jamie Silva | Boston College | FS |
| December 27, 2008 | Graham Gano | Florida State | K/P |
| December 29, 2009 | John Clay | Wisconsin | RB |
| December 28, 2010 | Russell Wilson | NC State | QB |
| December 29, 2011 | Rashad Greene | Florida State | WR |
| December 28, 2012 | Antone Exum | Virginia Tech | CB |
| December 28, 2013 | Teddy Bridgewater | Louisville | QB |
| December 29, 2014 | Cole Stoudt | Clemson | QB |
| December 29, 2015 | Johnny Jefferson | Baylor | RB |
| December 28, 2016 | Brad Kaaya | Miami | QB |
| December 28, 2017 | Mason Rudolph | Oklahoma State | QB |
| December 28, 2018 | Eric Dungey | Syracuse | QB |
| December 28, 2019 | Chase Claypool | Notre Dame | WR |
| December 29, 2020 | Spencer Sanders | Oklahoma State | QB |
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2020 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances).
- Teams with multiple appearances
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record | Win pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 6 | 3–3 | .500 |
| T2 | NC State | 5 | 3–2 | .600 |
| T2 | West Virginia | 5 | 0–5 | .000 |
| T4 | Florida State | 3 | 3–0 | 1.000 |
| T4 | Clemson | 3 | 2–1 | .667 |
| T4 | Virginia | 3 | 0–3 | .000 |
| T7 | Boston College | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| T7 | Georgia Tech | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| T7 | Oklahoma State | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| T7 | North Carolina | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| T7 | Notre Dame | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| T7 | Syracuse | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| T7 | Virginia Tech | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| T7 | Wisconsin | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| T7 | Colorado | 2 | 0–2 | .000 |
| T7 | Penn State | 2 | 0–2 | .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 | |
| ACC | 26 | 15 | 11 | .577 | 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 | 1993*, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020 |
| The American | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | 1993*, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2013 | 1994*, 1997, 2004, 2010, 2012 |
| Big 12 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | 2002, 2015, 2017, 2020 | 2003, 2005, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019 |
| Big Ten | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 1999, 2009 | 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008 |
| Independents | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1990, 2019 | 1990, 1992*, 2011 |
| SEC | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 1991, 1994* | 1995 |
| Pac-10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1992* | |
| Big Eight | 1 | 0 | 1 | .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 yards | 327, Koren Robinson (NC State) | 2000 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | ||
| Rushing yards | 299, Johnny Jefferson (Baylor) | 2015 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 3, Johnny Jefferson (Baylor) | 2015 |
| Passing yards | 475, Phillip Rivers (NC State) | 2003 |
| Passing touchdowns | 5, Phillip Rivers (NC State) | 2003 |
| Receiving yards | 171, Jerricho Cotchery (NC State) | 2003 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, Brennan Presley (Oklahoma State) | 2020 |
| Tackles | 22 Donnie Miles (North Carolina) | 2015 |
| Sacks | 3, Kendall Coleman (Syracuse) | 2018 |
| Interceptions | 2, 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 run | 84 yds., Tony Jones Jr. (Notre Dame) | 2019 |
| Touchdown pass | 87 yds., Mike Thomas to LC Stevens (North Carolina) | 1995 |
| Kickoff return | 90 yds., Gregory Gordon (NC State) | 2001 |
| Punt return | 59 yds., Wes Welker (Texas Tech) | 2002 |
| Interception return | ||
| Fumble return | ||
| Punt | 68 yds., John Torp (Colorado) | 2005 |
| Field goal | 49 yds., Evan Staley (West Virginia) | 2018 |
| Miscellaneous | Record, Teams | Year |
| Longest Time of Possession | 39:48, Maryland vs. Purdue | 2006 |
| Largest attendance | 74,021, Florida State vs. Penn State | 1990 |
| Most Appearances | 6, Miami (FL) | 1996, 1998, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2020 |
| Most Victories | 3, 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
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no reported attendance at the 2020 game.[8]
References
- "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- "About". campingworldbowl.com. 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- "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.
- "Russell Athletic Bowl History". RussellAthleticBowl.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- "CAMPING WORLD SIGNS ON AS TITLE SPONSOR OF ORLANDO BOWL". campingworldbowl.com. April 11, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- "Cheez-It® Heads To Orlando To Join Florida Citrus Sports Beginning With 2020 Season". cheezitbowl.com. May 27, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- 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.
- "2020 Cheez-It Bowl Game Notes" (PDF). OKState.com.
- "Camping World Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 11. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
- "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
- DeGeorge, Gail (1995). The Making of a Blockbuster: How Wayne Huizenga Built a Sports and Entertainment Empire from Trash, Grit and Videotape. John Wiley & Sons. ASIN B013ILGKYW.