# Frisco Bowl

The Frisco Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Frisco, Texas, since December 2017. The bowl has a tie-in with the American Athletic Conference, and chooses another team at-large.
DXL was the bowl's inaugural sponsor from 2017 to 2018, followed by Tropical Smoothie Cafe from 2019 to 2021, and Scooter's Coffee beginning in 2023.

## History

On April 21, 2017, it was announced that the Miami Beach Bowl—which had been owned and operated by the American Athletic Conference (The American)—had been sold to ESPN Events and that it would relocate to Frisco, Texas, to be played in Toyota Stadium starting in the 2017 season. On November 8, 2017, it was announced that Destination XL Group, a retailer specializing in big and tall menswear, had signed on as the inaugural title sponsor of the bowl. On December 3, 2017, SMU and Louisiana Tech were announced as the teams for the inaugural playing of the bowl. In 2019, Tropical Smoothie Cafe became the new title sponsor. In 2023, Scooter's Coffee became the new title sponsor.
The 2020 Frisco Bowl was originally set to be contested by the SMU Mustangs, from The American, and the UTSA Roadrunners, from Conference USA. The game was slated to be the first matchup between the two teams. Two days after the matchup was announced, the 2020 edition was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns with the SMU football team.

## Conference tie-ins

Initial planning had been to have teams from The American face a Sun Belt opponent in 2017 and 2019, and face a Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent in 2018. In 2017, the inaugural game featured a matchup between The American and Conference USA (C-USA).
The Frisco Bowl then secured an affiliation with The American through the 2021 season, with opponents to be selected at-large. The 2018 matchup featured teams from the MAC and Mountain West, as The American was unable to provide a team, due to its champion, UCF, receiving a New Year's Six bowl bid. MAC and Mountain West teams again met in 2019, as The American's champion, Memphis, again received a New Year's Six bid.

## Game results

Rankings per AP Poll prior to the game being played.
| Date | Winning Team | Winning Team | Losing Team | Losing Team | Attendance | Notes |
| December 20, 2017 | Louisiana Tech | 51 | SMU | 10 | 14,419 | notes |
| December 19, 2018 | Ohio | 27 | San Diego State | 0 | 11,029 | notes |
| December 20, 2019 | Kent State | 51 | Utah State | 41 | 12,120 | notes |
| December 19, 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| December 21, 2021 | San Diego State | 38 | No. 24 UTSA | 24 | 15,801 | notes |
| December 17, 2022 | Boise State | 35 | North Texas | 32 | 12,211 | notes |
| December 19, 2023 | UTSA | 35 | Marshall | 17 | 11,215 | notes |
| December 17, 2024 | No. 25 Memphis | 42 | West Virginia | 37 | 12,022 | notes |
Source:

## MVPs

| Year | Offensive MVP | Offensive MVP | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Ref. |
| Year | Player | College | Position | Player | College | Position | Ref. |
| 2017 | J'Mar Smith | Louisiana Tech | QB | Amik Robertson | Louisiana Tech | CB | |
| 2018 | A. J. Ouellette | Ohio | RB | Evan Croutch | Ohio | LB | |
| 2019 | Dustin Crum | Kent State | QB | Qwuantrezz Knight | Kent State | DB | |
| 2021 | Jesse Matthews | San Diego State | WR | CJ Baskerville | San Diego State | S | |
| 2022 | Taylen Green | Boise State | QB | Ezekial Noa | Boise State | LB | |
| 2023 | Joshua Cephus | UTSA | WR | Kam Alexander | UTSA | CB | |
| 2024 | Seth Henigan | Memphis | QB | Chandler Martin | Memphis | LB | |

## Appearances by team

Updated through the December 2024 edition (7 games, 14 total appearances).
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record | Win pct. |
| 1 | San Diego State | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| 1 | UTSA | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
Teams with a single appearance:
Won (5): Boise State, Kent State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Ohio
Lost (5): Marshall, North Texas, SMU, Utah State, West Virginia

## Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (7 games, 14 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Record | Record | Record | Appearances by season | Appearances by season |
| Conference | Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost |
| Mountain West | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2021, 2022 | 2018, 2019 |
| The American | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2023, 2024 | 2017 |
| C-USA | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2017 | 2021, 2022 |
| MAC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 2018, 2019 | |
| Big 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | | 2024 |
| Sun Belt | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | | 2023 |

## Game records

| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored (one team) | 51, shared by: Louisiana Tech vs. SMU Kent State vs. Utah State | 2017 2019 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 41, Utah State vs. Kent State | 2019 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 92, Kent State vs. Utah State | 2019 |
| Fewest points allowed | 0, San Diego State vs. Ohio | 2018 |
| Largest margin of victory | 41, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU | 2017 |
| Total yards | 550, Kent State vs. Utah State | 2019 |
| Rushing yards | 318, Boise State vs. North Texas | 2022 |
| Passing yards | 333, San Diego State vs. UTSA | 2021 |
| First downs | 31, San Diego State vs. UTSA | 2021 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 287, Ohio vs. San Diego State | 2018 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 117, San Diego State vs. UTSA | 2021 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 127, Louisiana Tech vs. SMU | 2017 |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Total Offense | 436, Dustin Crum (Kent State) | 2019 |
| All-purpose yards | 227, Juwan Washington (San Diego State) | 2018 |
| Total Touchdowns | 4, shared by: J'Mar Smith (Louisiana Tech) Lucas Johnson (San Diego State) | 2017 2021 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 2, multiple players | |
| Rushing yards | 178, Ashton Jeanty (Boise State) | 2022 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 2, shared by: Nathan Rourke (Ohio) Taylen Green (Boise State) Ikaika Ragsdale (North Texas) CJ Donaldson Jr. (West Virginia) | 2018 2022 2022 2024 |
| Passing yards | 333, Lucas Johnson (San Diego State) | 2021 |
| Passing touchdowns | 3, shared by: J'Mar Smith (Louisiana Tech) Jordan Love (Utah State) Lucas Johnson (San Diego State) | 2017 2019 2021 |
| Receptions | 11, shared by: Jesse Matthews (San Diego State) Hudson Clement (West Virginia) | 2021 2024 |
| Receiving yards | 175, Jesse Matthews (San Diego State) | 2021 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 2, shared by: Teddy Veal (Louisiana Tech) Siaosi Mariner (Utah State) Jesse Matthews (San Diego State) Hudson Clement (West Virginia) | 2017 2019 2021 2024 |
| Tackles | 14, Troy Lefeged Jr. (Utah State) | 2019 |
| Sacks | 2, Nick Heninger (Utah State) | 2019 |
| Interceptions | 1, multiple players | |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 57 yds., Deven Thompkins (Utah State) | 2019 |
| Touchdown pass | 78 yds., Dustin Crum to Isaiah McKoy (Kent State) | 2019 |
| Kickoff return | 65 yds,, Jaqwis Dancy (Louisiana Tech) | 2017 |
| Punt return | 30 yds., Kylan Nelson (Ohio) | 2018 |
| Interception return | 52 yds., Ezekiel Noa (Boise State) | 2022 |
| Fumble return | 8 yds., Eric Kendzior (Louisiana Tech) | 2017 |
| Punt | 51 yds., Davan Dyer (Louisiana Tech) | 2017 |
| Field goal | 46 yds., Michael Hayes II (West Virginia) | 2024 |

## Media coverage

The bowl has been televised by ESPN or ESPN2 since its inception.