Thought since we're in the middle of Bowl Week I'd do some searching for some of the bowls from the past....

Here is a list of Defunct Bowl Games from Wikipedia

All-American Bowl, Birmingham, Alabama 1977-1990
Aloha Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii 1982-2000
Aviation Bowl, Dayton, Ohio 1961
Bacardi Bowl, Havana, Cuba, 1937
Bluebonnet Bowl, Houston, Texas 1959-1987
Bluegrass Bowl, Louisville, Kentucky 1958
Boardwalk Bowl, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1961-1973
Boot Hill Bowl, Dodge City, Kansas 1970-1980
California Bowl, Fresno, California 1981-1991
Camellia Bowl, Lafayette, Louisiana 1948; Sacramento, California 1961-1980
Charity Bowl, Los Angeles, California 1937
Cherry Bowl, Pontiac, Michigan 1984-1985
Cigar Bowl, Tampa, Florida1947-1956
Cosmopolitan Bowl, Alexandria, Louisiana 1951
Delta Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee 1948-1949
Dixie Bowl, Birmingham, Alabama 1948-1949
Festival of Palms Bowl, Miami, Florida 1932-1934
Forth Worth Classic, Fort Worth, Texas 1921
Freedom Bowl, Anaheim, California 1984-1994
Garden State Bowl, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1978-1981
Glass Bowl, Toledo, Ohio 1946-1949
Gotham Bowl, New York City, 1961-1962
Great Lakes Bowl, Cleveland, Ohio 1947
Harbor Bowl, San Diego, California 1947-1949
Heritage Bowl, Atlanta, Georgia 1991-1999
Houston Bowl, 2000-2005 (originally galleryfurniture.com bowl)
Mercy Bowl, Los Angeles, California 1961, 1971
Oahu Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii 1998-2000
Oil Bowl, Houston Texas 1946-1947
Pasadena Bowl, Pasadena, California 1967-1971
Pineapple Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii 1940-1952
Poi Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii 1936-1939
Presidential Cup Bowl, College Park, Maryland 1950
Refrigerator Bowl, Evansville, Indiana 1948-1956
Raisin Bowl, Fresno, California 1946-1949
Salad Bowl, Phoenix, Arizona 1948-1952
Seattle Bowl, Seattle Washington 2001-2002
Silicon Valley Football Classic, San Jose, California 2000-2004
Sunflower Bowl, Winfield, Kansas 1982-1986


some interesting names and stuff there....

I think they should have played the Pasadena Bowl in San Diego. It would have been funnier.

I've started reading about all of these games... apparently the Aviation Bowl was played between New Mexico and Western Michigan, and won by New Mexico. That whole 1961 Lobos team got inducted into their athletic hall of fame for that win in 1990. Guess football isn't so great at New Mexico

Lol. That's pretty interesting stuff.

Bluegrass Bowl, played between Oklahoma State and Florida State, temps @ kickoff were apparently 20 degrees and the field was icy and slippery... game made a measly $18,132... and the organizers claimed that a success

Well, in '58 18k was a pretty good amount of money.

Charity Bowl, 1 time game played between Fresno State and Central Arkansas in 1937... the Bulldogs pulled out a squeaker, 27-26....

Cigar Bowl, played in Tampa, Florida from 1947-1956 featured teams including the University of Havana, Missouri Valley, Wisconsin LaCrosse, Brooke Army Medical Center, Wofford, and the University of Tampa

Delta Bowl, in Memphis Tennessee was supposed to feature Tulane, but after they started the year 0-8 they had to be replaced by William and Mary. Who ever heard of signing a team to a bowl contract before the season even started?

They should definitely bring back the Bacardi Bowl and the Refrigerator Bowl since they have the sweetest names.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Notre Dame bowl run by NBC where ND plays a depleted 6-6 WAC team every year so they can barely scrape out a bowl win.

I agree, the refrigerator bowl would be sweet.... not too sure there's a market for a bowl game in chilly Evansville, Indiana though...

I always liked the bluebonnet bowl, usually a pretty good game.

Good grief, look at all of the bowls from the late 40's. There were almost as many as there are now.

yeah, seemed like anybody could get a game then if they wanted to... for some reason they were all cold weather games... the Great Lakes Bowl was played @ Municipal Stadium between Kentucky and Villanova.... Villanova's first 2 bowl appearances were in games that only lasted 1 year...

You forgot the Tangerine Bowl. Kent State played in it around 1971 and lost 21-18 to Tampa. That was Tampa's last game. One of their players was the number one draft pick.

My cousin played in a Copper Bowl out in AZ back in the 90s when he was with Indiana University.

Akron under the late great Gordon Larson played in the 1968 Grantland Rice Bowl played in Murfreesboro, Tenn and lost to Terry Bradshaw-led Louisiana Tech, 33-13.

FairwoodKing wrote: You forgot the Tangerine Bowl. Kent State played in it around 1971 and lost 21-18 to Tampa. That was Tampa's last game. One of their players was the number one draft pick.

Does the Tangerine count as defunct since it is really the Capital One Bowl?

osudarby08 wrote: They should definitely bring back the Bacardi Bowl and the Refrigerator Bowl since they have the sweetest names.

C'mon....better than the Boot Hill Bowl? I think not! lol

I always thought they should have a bowl game in either Cincy or Texas called "The Chili Bowl"

I liked the "Salad Bowl."

Is the Lingerie Bowl still around?

Yeah some of those games have continued under other names, so i took them off the defunct bowl list