Liberty Bowl

Collegebowl
name = Liberty Bowl
full_name = AutoZone Liberty Bowl
nickname =
defunct =


image_size = 175
caption = AutoZone Liberty Bowl logo
stadium = Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
previous_stadiums = John F. Kennedy Stadium (1959-1963)
Convention Hall (1964)
location = Memphis, Tennessee
previous_locations = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1959-1963)
Atlantic City, New Jersey (1964)
years = 1959-present
previous_tie-ins = MWC (1998-2003)
WAC (2004)
Air Force/Army/Navy (1989-1992)
conference_tie-ins = C-USA, SEC
payout = 1,700,000 (2006)
sponsors = AXA Financial (1997-2003)
AutoZone (2004-present)
former_names = AXA Liberty Bowl (1997-2003)
prev_matchup_year = 2007
prev_matchup_season= 2007
prev_matchup_teams = Mississippi State vs. Central Florida
prev_matchup_score = MSU 10, UCF 3
next_matchup_year = 2009
next_matchup_season= 2008
next_matchup_teams = C-USA Champion vs. SEC
next_matchup_date =

The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year since 1959. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003. Since 2004, the game has been sponsored by Memphis-based auto parts retailer AutoZone, and is now called the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

The bowl game was first played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at John F. Kennedy Stadium (originally Municipal Stadium) until 1963. Initially, the game, the only cold-weather bowl game of its time, was plagued by poor attendance (the 1963 game drew only 8,309 spectators), so the 1964 game was the first bowl game ever played indoors in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Convention Hall before 6,059 fans.

Since 1965, the game has made its home in Memphis, Tennessee in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to much larger crowds and has established itself as one of the oldest non-BCS bowls. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Liberty Bowl offered an automatic invitation to the winner of the Commander in Chief's Trophy, if that team was bowl eligible. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED61F38F931A25752C1A96F948260 College Football; Boston College Surprises Army - New York Times ] ] From 1997-2004, the regular season champion of Conference USA served as the host team. Since 2005, the winner of the C-USA Championship game has received the berth.

From 1998 to 2005, the opponent for the C-USA champion was the Mountain West Conference champion. There were two exceptions:

*In 2004, Mountain West Champion Utah qualified for the BCS. In their place, the Liberty Bowl chose WAC champion Boise State.
*In 2005, Mountain West Champion TCU chose to play in the Houston Bowl instead of the Liberty Bowl. At-large WAC team Fresno State took their place.

Since the 2006 football season, the game matches the Conference USA champion with a team from the SEC.

The game airs nationally on ESPN, and is carried nationwide by ESPN Radio.

Previous results

References

ee also

List of college bowl games

External links

* [http://www.libertybowl.org Official Website of the Liberty Bowl]