# Boca Raton Bowl

The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at FAU Stadium. Winners of the game received the Howard Schnellenberger championship trophy, named for the football head coach at FAU from 2001 to 2011.
From 2020 through 2023, the bowl was sponsored by RoofClaim.com. Previous sponsors were Cheribundi (2017–2019) and Marmot (2015).

## History

The bowl was founded on October 10, 2013, and was first played in December 2014 as one of the 2014–15 bowl games.
The bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events, in partnership with Good Karma Brands (owner of the local ESPN Radio affiliate WUUB). On October 6, 2015, Marmot, an outdoor clothing and sporting goods company, was announced as the title sponsor of the game. On December 1, 2017, Cheribundi, a New York–based beverage company, was announced as the new title sponsor.

## Conference tie-ins

The bowl had a tie-in with the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for 2014 and 2015, to face opponents from Conference USA (C-USA) in the first year and the American Athletic Conference (The American) in the second.
In 2014, Northern Illinois, winner of the 2014 MAC Championship Game, was sent as the conference's representative, while C-USA also sent its champion, Marshall. The MAC and C-USA did not have automatic bowl bids for their champions entering 2014; C-USA had lost its contract with the Liberty Bowl, while the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which usually took the MAC champion, was discontinued after its 2013 playing and the GoDaddy Bowl, which takes a MAC team and has the option to take the conference champion if it desires, did not invite Marshall. In 2015, the MAC sent Toledo and The American sent Temple.
In 2016 and 2017, C-USA and The American had primary tie-ins with the bowl. In 2016, C-USA sent Western Kentucky and The American sent Memphis. In 2017, C-USA sent Florida Atlantic while their opponent, Akron, came from the MAC. A C-USA vs. MAC matchup was again featured in 2018. The "affiliated conferences" for the 2019 game were The American, C-USA and MAC.

## Game results

All rankings in AP Poll.
| Date | Winning team | Winning team | Losing team | Losing team | Attendance | Notes |
| December 23, 2014 | Marshall | 52 | Northern Illinois | 23 | 29,419 | notes |
| December 22, 2015 | Toledo | 32 | 24 Temple | 17 | 25,908 | notes |
| December 20, 2016 | Western Kentucky | 51 | Memphis | 31 | 24,726 | notes |
| December 19, 2017 | Florida Atlantic | 50 | Akron | 3 | 25,912 | notes |
| December 18, 2018 | UAB | 37 | Northern Illinois | 13 | 22,614 | notes |
| December 21, 2019 | Florida Atlantic | 52 | SMU | 28 | 23,187 | notes |
| December 22, 2020 | 13 BYU | 49 | UCF | 23 | 6,000 | notes |
| December 18, 2021 | Western Kentucky | 59 | Appalachian State | 38 | 15,429 | notes |
| December 20, 2022 | Toledo | 21 | Liberty | 19 | 20,622 | notes |
| December 21, 2023 | South Florida | 45 | Syracuse | 0 | 20,711 | notes |
| December 18, 2024 | James Madison | 27 | Western Kentucky | 17 | 15,808 | notes |
Source:

## MVPs

The number of players honored as MVPs has varied.
| Year | Offense | Offense | Offense | Defense | Defense | Defense | Special Teams | Special Teams | Special Teams | Ref. |
| Year | Player | Pos. | Team | Player | Pos. | Team | Player | Pos. | Team | Ref. |
| 2014 | Rakeem Cato | QB | Marshall | | | | | | | |
| 2015 | Phillip Ely | QB | Toledo | Ju'Wan Woodley | LB | Toledo | | | | |
| 2016 | Anthony Wales | RB | Western Kentucky | Keith Brown | LB | Western Kentucky | | | | |
| 2017 | Jason Driskel | QB | Florida Atlantic | Azeez Al-Shaair | LB | Florida Atlantic | | | | |
| 2018 | Xavier Ubosi | WR | UAB | Anthony Rush | NT | UAB | | | | |
| 2019 | Chris Robison | QB | Florida Atlantic | Rashad Smith | LB | Florida Atlantic | Matt Hayball | P | Florida Atlantic | |
| 2020 | Zach Wilson | QB | BYU | Keenan Pili | LB | BYU | Caleb Christensen | KR | BYU | |
| 2021 | Bailey Zappe | QB | Western Kentucky | Antwon Kincade | DB | Western Kentucky | John Haggerty III | P | Western Kentucky | |
| 2022 | Dequan Finn | QB | Toledo | Nate Givhan | LB | Toledo | Thomas Cluckey | K | Toledo | |
| 2023 | Byrum Brown | QB | South Florida | Daquan Evans | DB | South Florida | Aamaris Brown | DB | South Florida | |
| 2024 | JC Evans | QB | James Madison | DJ Barksdale | NB | James Madison | Ryan Hanson | P | James Madison | |

## Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 edition (11 games, 22 total appearances).

### Teams with multiple appearances

| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record | Win pct. |
| 1 | Western Kentucky | 3 | 2–1 | 0.667 |
| 2 | Florida Atlantic | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| 2 | Toledo | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| 2 | Northern Illinois | 2 | 0–2 | 0.000 |

### Teams with a single appearance

Won (5): BYU, James Madison, Marshall, South Florida, UAB
Lost (8): Akron, Appalachian State, Liberty, Memphis, SMU, Syracuse, Temple, UCF

## Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (11 games, 22 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Record | Record | Record | Appearances by season | Appearances by season |
| Conference | Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost |
| C-USA | 7 | 6 | 1 | .857 | 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 | 2024 |
| MAC | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2015, 2022 | 2014, 2017, 2018 |
| The American | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | 2023 | 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 |
| Independents | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2020 | 2022 |
| Sun Belt | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2024 | 2021 |
| ACC | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | | 2023 |
Independent appearances: BYU (2020), Liberty (2022)

## Game records

| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored (one team) | 59, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State | 2021 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 38, Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky | 2021 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 97, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State | 2021 |
| Fewest points allowed | 0, South Florida vs. Syracuse | 2023 |
| Largest margin of victory | 47, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
| Total yards | 655, BYU vs. UCF | 2020 |
| Rushing yards | 312, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
| Passing yards | 441, BYU vs. UCF | 2020 |
| First downs | 34, BYU vs. UCF | 2020 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 146, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 16, James Madison vs. Western Kentucky | 2024 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 77, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron | 2017 |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team | Year |
| All-purpose yards | 329, Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) | 2016 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 3, most recent: Jerreth Sterns (Western Kentucky) | 2021 |
| Rushing yards | 245, Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) | 2016 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 3, shared by: Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) Devin Singletary (Florida Atlantic) | 2016 2017 |
| Passing yards | 425, Zach Wilson (BYU) | 2020 |
| Passing touchdowns | 6, Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky) | 2021 |
| Receptions | 18, Tommy Shuler (Marshall) | 2014 |
| Receiving yards | 227, Xavier Ubosi (UAB) | 2018 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, shared by Anthony Miller (Memphis) Xavier Ubosi (UAB) Jerreth Sterns (Western Kentucky) | 2016 2018 2021 |
| Tackles | 16, Mike Smith Jr (Liberty) | 2022 |
| Sacks | 3.0, shared by: Arthur Maulet (Memphis) Nick Dawson (Western Kentucky) | 2016 |
| Interceptions | 1, most recent: Jacquez Williams (South Florida) Tavin Ward (South Florida) | 2023 |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team | Year |
| Touchdown run | 86 yds., Noah Whittington (Western Kentucky) | 2021 |
| Touchdown pass | 80 yds., Cody Thompson (Toledo) | 2015 |
| Kickoff return | 93 yds., Deandre Reaves (Marshall) | 2014 |
| Punt return | 24 yds., Jalen Young (Florida Atlantic) | 2017 |
| Interception return | 22 yds., Rashad Smith (Florida Atlantic) | 2019 |
| Fumble return | 64 yds., Aamaris Brown (South Florida) | 2023 |
| Punt | 71 yds., Alex Starzyk (Temple) | 2015 |
| Field goal | 42 yds., Nick Vogel (UAB) | 2018 |

## Media coverage

The bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception, with the 2019 edition broadcast on ABC.

## Legends honorees

Each December, the bowl recognizes one person associated with football in the state of Florida with the Palm Beach County Football Legends Award.
| Year | Honoree | Role | Florida team |
| 2014 | Howard Schnellenberger | College & NFL head coach | Florida Atlantic Owls |
| 2015 | Reidel Anthony | College & NFL wide receiver | Florida Gators |
| 2016 | John Carney | College & NFL placekicker | Cardinal Newman High School |
| 2017 | Steve Walsh | College & NFL quarterback; High School & CFL coach | Miami Hurricanes |
| 2018 | Brad Banks | College & CFL quarterback; 2002 Heisman Trophy runner-up | Glades Central High School |