Armed Forces Bowl

Armed Forces Bowl
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Stadium Amon G. Carter Stadium
Location Fort Worth, Texas
Previous stadiums Gerald J. Ford Stadium (2010–2011)
Previous locations University Park, Texas (2010–2011)
Operated 2003–present
Conference tie-ins Big 12 (2014, 2016, 2018)
Big Ten (2015, 2017, 2019)
American (2014, 2018)
MWC (2015, 2019)
Navy (2016)
Army (2017)[1]
Payout US$675,000 (as of 2015)[2]
Sponsors
PlainsCapital Bank (2003–2004)
Bell Helicopter (2006–2013)
Lockheed Martin (2014–present)
Former names
PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl (2003–2004)
Fort Worth Bowl (2005)
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (2006–2013)
2017 matchup
Army vs. San Diego State (Army 42–35)
2018 matchup
Teams TBD (December 22, 2018)

The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game played in the 44,008-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. First played in 2003, the game features teams from a variety of collegiate football conferences; in addition, the independent United States Military Academy (Army) is also eligible to participate. Since 2014, the game has been sponsored by Lockheed Martin and officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Previous sponsors include Bell Helicopter (2006–2013) and PlainsCapital Bank (2003–2004).

The contest is one of 14 bowls produced by ESPN Events (previously ESPN Regional Television) and has been televised annually on ESPN since its inception. Armed Forces Insurance is the official Insurance Partner of the Armed Forces Bowl and has sponsored the Great American Patriot Award, presented at halftime at the Bowl, since 2006.[3]

History

The bowl game was inaugurated in 2003 as the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl, reflecting the sponsorship of PlainsCapital Bank. The bank's sponsorship ended in 2004, and the 2005 game was without corporate sponsorship.

In 2006, Fort Worth based Bell Helicopter Textron took over sponsorship, and thus the game became officially known as the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. The Bell sponsorship ended in 2013. During this time, the 2010 and 2011 Armed Forces Bowl were held at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in the Dallas enclave of University Park, while Amon G. Carter Stadium was undergoing a major renovation. The game returned to Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth in 2012, after construction on that stadium was completed.

Since the name was changed to the Armed Forces Bowl, one of the three FBS-playing service academies (Army, Navy, and Air Force) has appeared in the game nine times, in twelve playings through the 2017 game. Contractual tie-ins with the American Athletic Conference (home of Navy), the Mountain West Conference (home of Air Force) and independent Army assures that one of those schools could appear in the game every year, if bowl eligible and not already committed to another bowl.

Alltel was to assume the title sponsorship and naming rights to the game beginning in 2014, which would have been titled the Alltel Wireless Bowl to promote its mobile division, but the deal fell through. Instead, Lockheed Martin became the game's sponsor. The company has a major presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: the company's Lockheed Martin Aeronautics division is based in Fort Worth while its Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control division is based in nearby Grand Prairie, Texas.

Conference Tie-Ins

The bowl's partnership with the Big 12 Conference ended with the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Mountain West Conference was signed to provide a team to face either a team from the Pacific-10 Conference or Conference USA (depending on the year; Pac-10 teams would play in odd number years while C-USA teams would play in even numbered years). As such, the 2006 and 2008 games featured Conference USA teams Tulsa and Houston, respectively, whereas California represented the Pac-10 in 2007. The Pac-10 was unable to send a representative to the game in 2009, so Conference USA sent Houston to the game for a second consecutive year. In 2010, since the Mountain West did not have enough eligible teams and Army was bowl eligible, they played SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Following the 2013 football season, the Armed Forces Bowl signed multi-year agreements with the American Athletic Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Mountain West Conference, Army and Navy to set bowl match-ups for the next six seasons (Navy would later join the American Athletic Conference).[1]

SeasonPlannedActual
2014The AmericanBig 12The AmericanACC
2015Mountain WestBig TenMountain WestPac-12
2016NavyBig 12NavyC-USA
2017ArmyBig TenArmyMountain West
2018The AmericanBig 12
2019Mountain WestBig Ten

Game results

Date playedWinning teamLosing teamNotes
December 23, 2003No. 17 Boise State[a 1]34No. 19 TCU31notes
December 23, 2004Cincinnati32Marshall[a 2]14notes
December 23, 2005Kansas42Houston13notes
December 23, 2006Utah25Tulsa13notes
December 31, 2007California42Air Force36notes
December 31, 2008Houston34Air Force28notes
December 31, 2009Air Force47Houston20notes
December 30, 2010Army16SMU14notes
December 30, 2011BYU24Tulsa21notes
December 29, 2012Rice33Air Force14notes
December 30, 2013Navy24Middle Tennessee6notes
January 2, 2015Houston35Pittsburgh34notes
December 29, 2015California55Air Force[a 3]36notes
December 23, 2016Louisiana Tech48Navy45notes
December 23, 2017Army42San Diego State35notes
  1. ↑ In 2003, Boise received a bid because the Big 12 did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of its allotted bowl slots.
  2. ↑ In 2004, Marshall received a bid because the Big 12 did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of its allotted bowl slots.
  3. ↑ In 2015, Air Force received a bid because the Big Ten did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of its allotted bowl slots.

MVPs

Starting with the 2008 game, two MVPs are selected; one from each team.

Date played MVP Team Position
December 23, 2003Ryan DinwiddieBoise StateQB
December 23, 2004Gino GuidugliCincinnatiQB
December 23, 2005Jason SwansonKansasQB
December 23, 2006Louie SakodaUtahP/K
December 31, 2007Kevin RileyCaliforniaQB
  Winning team MVP Team Position Losing team MVP Team Position
December 31, 2008Bryce BeallHoustonRBJared TewAir ForceFB
December 31, 2009Asher ClarkAir ForceRBTyron CarrierHoustonWR
December 30, 2010Stephen AndersonArmyLBDarius JohnsonSMUWR
December 30, 2011Cody HoffmanBYUWRDexter McCoilTulsaDB
December 29, 2012Jordan TaylorRiceWRAustin NiklaasAir ForceLB
December 30, 2013Keenan ReynoldsNavyQBT. T. BarberMiddle TennesseeLB
January 2, 2015Kenneth FarrowHoustonRBChad VoytikPittsburghQB
December 29, 2015Jared GoffCaliforniaQBKarson RobertsAir ForceQB
December 23, 2016Trent TaylorLouisiana TechWRZach AbeyNavyQB
December 23, 2017[4]Ahmad BradshawArmyQBRashaad PennySan Diego StateRB

Most appearances

Air Force Falcons quarterback Shea Smith in the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl
Teams with multiple appearances
Rank Team Appearances Record
1Air Force51–4
2Houston42–2
T3Army22–0
T3California22–0
T3Navy21–1
T3Tulsa20–2
Teams with a single appearance

Won: Boise State, BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Utah
Lost: Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, SMU, TCU

Appearances by conference

Air Force Falcons on offense at the 2009 Armed Forces Bowl

Through the December 2017 playing, there have been 15 games (30 total appearances).

Rank Conference Appearances Wins Losses Pct.
1C-USA11470.364
2Mountain West7250.286
3Independents[b 1]4401.000
T4Pac-12[b 2]2201.000
T4The American2110.500
T6Big 121101.000
T6WAC1101.000
T6ACC1010.000
T6MAC1010.000
  1. ↑ Army (2010, 2017), BYU (2011), Navy (2013)
  2. ↑ Includes Cal's appearance in 2007, as a member of what was then the Pac-10.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Matchup". armedforcesbowl.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014.
  2. ↑ "College Bowl Game Payouts". 6 September 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Great American Patriot Award". armedforcesbowl.com. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/ArmedForcesBowl/status/944717391547727873
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