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History The creation of Fiesta Bowl grew out of the frustration of the Western Athletic Conference in trying to obtain suitable bowl invitiations for its champions. In 1968 and 1969, respectively, champions Wyoming and Arizona State failed to obtain any invitation, while in 1970, undefeated Arizona State was bypassed by the major bowls and had to settle for a less prestigious Peach Bowl appearance. The Fiesta Bowl therefore initially provided an automatic bowl tie-in for the Western Athletic Conference champion. The 1971 inaugural game featured another top ten Arizona State squad against top twenty opponent Florida State. By 1975, the game was able to attract Big Eight co-champion Nebraska to play undefeated Arizona State in a matchup of top five teams. In 1977, the game was again able to attract a top five opponent in Penn State. In 1978, Arizona and Arizona State each joined the Pac 10 Conference, and the Fiesta Bowl's tie-in with the Western Athletic Conference ended. The game continued to attract high quality matchups, however, and beginning with the 1981 game shifted to New Year's Day with the other major bowl games. A major breakthrough occurred in 1987 when the top two teams in the country, Miami and Penn State, agreed to play for the National Championship in the Fiesta Bowl. At the time the then "Big Four" Bowl games (Cotton, Orange, Sugar, and Rose) had tie-ins with conferences where the conference champion was guaranteed a spot in the bowl. Both Miami and Penn State were independents at that time and the only two bowls which tried Citrus Bowl.The Fiesta Bowl won the bidding matchup and the game was moved to the day after the 4 "Major" Bowls. The 1987 game, won by Penn State 14-10, was the most watched game, in terms of television viewership, in the history of college football. Two years later, For the 1991 game, several major universities declined invitations due to the State of Arizona's decision at that time not to adopt the Martin Luther King Holiday. In 1992, the Fiesta Bowl was invited to participate in the Bowl Coalition, a predecessor to the Bowl Championship Series, assuring the game would feature major conference champions or prestigious runners up, and the possibility of hosting further national title games. When this series incorporated a title game with a preset rotating site beginning in 1996, the Fiesta Bowl was the first to host the game, featuring undefeated The BCS National Championship game returned to the Fiesta Bowl 2003 with The Ohio State Buckeyes beating the Miami Hurricanes in the first overtime national championship game. The game went into 2 overtimes with the Buckeyes coming out on top 31-24 to claim the 2002 National Championship. Since that game the Buckeyes have returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 2004 beating Kansas St. and in 2006 beating Notre Dame. During the trophy presentation Ohio State quarterback and MVP, Troy Smith, commented on The Buckeyes dominance in the Fiesta Bowl by saying "The National Championship game is here next year; we like that." Controversy In 1996 a group of fans of Brigham Young University's football team, led by BYU professor Dennis Martin, burned bags of Tostitos tortilla chips in a bonfire and called for a boycott of all Tostitos products. This came after Game results Italics denote a tie game. Most Valuable Player Award winners See also | ||||||||||
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