# Texas Bowl

The Texas Bowl is an annual postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game first held in 2006 in Houston, Texas. Each edition of the bowl has been played at NRG Stadium, previously known as Reliant Stadium. The bowl replaced the defunct Houston Bowl, which was played annually from 2000 to 2005, and before that the Bluebonnet Bowl, the first bowl game in Houston, played from 1959 through 1987.

## History
### Replacing the Houston Bowl

Speculation surfaced questioning the long-term survival of the former Houston Bowl. The three-year contract with EV1.net expired on December 31, 2005, leaving the bowl game without a title sponsor. A college football official told the Houston Chronicle that the bowl was in danger of ceasing operations, as a result of the game losing its title sponsor and because the Houston Bowl still owed roughly $600,000 to the Big 12 and Mountain West conferences following the 2005 game. However, the NCAA approved Lone Star Sports & Entertainment, a division of the Houston Texans, who also play in Reliant Stadium, to take over game management. In July 2006, the NFL Network acquired TV rights and naming rights to the bowl.

### Texas Bowl introduction

The Texas Bowl name and logo were officially unveiled on August 10, 2006, at a press conference along with conference affiliations for the bowl spots. The Big 12, Big East and Conference USA will be affiliated with the game, as well as Texas Christian University of the Mountain West. The 2006 matchup featured teams from the Big 12 and Big East Conferences.
On December 3, 2006, Rutgers accepted an invitation to play Kansas State in the inaugural Texas Bowl. "We're ecstatic about having Rutgers," Texas Bowl director David Brady said. "This is a top-15 team that was three yards away from a BCS game. We couldn't be happier to have them here."
2010 marked the eleventh consecutive year a bowl game has played in Houston, and the 40th year overall with a bowl game there (the Bluebonnet Bowl lasted 29 years). It was also announced on December 30, 2009, that ESPN Events would take over as part owner and operator of the game, while Lone Star Sports and Entertainment will maintain a stake in the bowl, and would be carried on ESPN.

### Sponsors

On April 12, 2011, ESPN announced Meineke Car Care signed a three-year title sponsorship deal beginning in 2011, changing name of the bowl to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. On February 12, 2014, it was announced that AdvoCare will be the title sponsor for the bowl game. That sponsorship concluded after the 2016 game. On November 15, 2017, Academy Sports + Outdoors became the new title sponsor of the bowl. That sponsorship concluded after the 2019 game.
On December 14, 2020, Mercari was announced as the new title sponsor of the game. The 2020 game was later canceled due to COVID-19 issues. On November 24, 2021, TaxAct was named as the new title sponsor of both the Texas Bowl and the Camellia Bowl. This arrangement remained in place through the 2023 edition. On December 4, 2024, Kinder's Flavors was named as the new title sponsor.

### Conference tie-ins

On May 17, 2007, it was announced Conference USA would have a team in the 2007 Texas Bowl. The Texas Bowl has a rotating commitment with the Big East Conference and Conference USA for 2006–09 while the Big 12 Conference will have a team in all four of those games. In 2007, TCU took the place of the Big 12 team when Kansas and Oklahoma were put into the BCS, and Houston, a "home team," represented C-USA. The conferences would receive $612,500 each as per the rules of the agreements as usually, the Big East (or Big 12) would have received $750,000 for playing and C-USA would have received a $500,000 stipend for their team playing.

### Issues

According to Sports Illustrated, in 2008 the bowl required Western Michigan University to purchase 11,000 tickets at full price in order to accept the invitation to play in the bowl. The university was only able to sell 548 tickets at that price, forcing it to accept a $462,535 loss, before travel expenses, to pay for the privilege of playing in the bowl.
The 2020 edition, slated for December 31 between TCU and Arkansas, was cancelled on December 29 due to COVID-19 issues within the TCU program.

## Game results

Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played.
| Date | Time (CST) | Bowl name | Winning team | Winning team | Losing team | Losing team | Attendance |
| December 28, 2006 | 7:00 PM | Texas Bowl | No. 16 Rutgers | 37 | Kansas State | 10 | 52,210 |
| December 28, 2007 | 7:00 PM | Texas Bowl | TCU | 20 | Houston | 13 | 62,097 |
| December 30, 2008 | 7:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Rice | 38 | Western Michigan | 14 | 58,880 |
| December 31, 2009 | 2:30 PM | Texas Bowl | Navy | 35 | Missouri | 13 | 69,441 |
| December 29, 2010 | 5:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Illinois | 38 | Baylor | 14 | 68,211 |
| December 31, 2011 | 11:00 AM | Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas | Texas A&M | 33 | Northwestern | 22 | 68,395 |
| December 28, 2012 | 8:00 PM | Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas | Texas Tech | 34 | Minnesota | 31 | 50,386 |
| December 27, 2013 | 5:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Syracuse | 21 | Minnesota | 17 | 32,327 |
| December 29, 2014 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Arkansas | 31 | Texas | 7 | 71,115 |
| December 29, 2015 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | No. 22 LSU† | 56 | Texas Tech | 27 | 71,307 |
| December 28, 2016 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Kansas State | 33 | Texas A&M | 28 | 68,412 |
| December 27, 2017 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Texas | 33 | Missouri | 16 | 67,820 |
| December 27, 2018 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Baylor | 45 | Vanderbilt | 38 | 51,104 |
| December 27, 2019 | 5:45 PM | Texas Bowl | Texas A&M | 24 | No. 25 Oklahoma State | 21 | 68,415 |
| December 31, 2020 | 7:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | — |
| January 4, 2022 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Kansas State | 42 | LSU | 20 | 52,207 |
| December 28, 2022 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | Texas Tech | 42 | Ole Miss | 25 | 53,251 |
| December 27, 2023 | 8:00 PM | Texas Bowl | No. 22 Oklahoma State | 31 | Texas A&M | 23 | 55,212 |
| December 31, 2024 | 2:30 PM | Texas Bowl | LSU | 44 | Baylor | 31 | 59,940 |
Source:
† LSU's win in the 2015 edition was vacated in 2023 by the NCAA for a booster-related violation.

## MVPs

| Year | MVP | Team | Position |
| 2006 | Ray Rice | Rutgers | RB |
| 2007 | Andy Dalton | TCU | QB |
| 2008 | Chase Clement | Rice | QB |
| 2009 | Ricky Dobbs | Navy | QB |
| 2010 | Mikel Leshoure | Illinois | RB |
| 2011 | Ryan Tannehill | Texas A&M | QB |
| 2012 | Seth Doege | Texas Tech | QB |
| 2013 | Terrel Hunt | Syracuse | QB |
| 2014 | Brandon Allen | Arkansas | QB |
| 2015 | Leonard Fournette | LSU | RB |
| 2016 | Jesse Ertz | Kansas State | QB |
| 2017 | Michael Dickson | Texas | P |
| 2018 | Charlie Brewer | Baylor | QB |
| 2019 | Kellen Mond | Texas A&M | QB |
| Jan. 2022 | Skylar Thompson | Kansas State | QB |
| Dec. 2022 | Tyler Shough | Texas Tech | QB |
| 2023 | Rashod Owens | Oklahoma State | WR |
| 2024 | Garrett Nussmeier | LSU | QB |
Source:

## Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

### Teams with multiple appearances

| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record |
| 1 | Texas A&M | 4 | 2–2 |
| 2 | Kansas State | 3 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Texas Tech | 3 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Baylor | 3 | 1–2 |
| 2 | LSU | 3 | 1–1‡ |
| 6 | Texas | 2 | 1–1 |
| 6 | Oklahoma State | 2 | 1–1 |
| 6 | Minnesota | 2 | 0–2 |
| 6 | Missouri | 2 | 0–2 |
‡ LSU's win in the 2015 edition was vacated by the NCAA in 2023.

### Teams with a single appearance

Won (7): Arkansas, Illinois, Navy, Rice, Rutgers, Syracuse, TCU
Lost (5): Houston, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Western Michigan

## Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Record | Record | Record | Appearances by season | Appearances by season | Appearances by season |
| Conference | Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost | Vacated |
| Big 12 | 15 | 8 | 7 | .533 | 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021*, 2022, 2023 | 2006, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2024 | |
| SEC | 10 | 3 | 6 | .333 ‡ | 2014, 2019, 2024 | 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021*, 2022, 2023 | 2015 |
| Big Ten | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2010 | 2011, 2012, 2013 | |
| C-USA | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2008 | 2007 | |
| ACC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2013 | | |
| Independents | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2009 | | |
| Mountain West | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2007 | | |
| Big East | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2006 | | |
| MAC | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | | 2008 | |
‡ LSU's vacated victory following the 2015 season is excluded from the SEC's win–loss totals and winning percentage.
* Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
* Rutgers appeared in 2006 as a member of the Big East; the American Athletic Conference (The American) retains the conference charter following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines.
* Independent appearances: Navy (2009)

## Game records

| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored (one team) | 56, LSU vs. Texas Tech | 2015 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 38, Vanderbilt vs. Baylor | 2018 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 83, shared by: LSU (56) vs. Texas Tech (27) Baylor (45) vs. Vanderbilt (38) | 2015 2018 |
| Fewest points allowed | 7, Arkansas vs. Texas | 2014 |
| Largest margin of victory | 29, LSU vs. Texas Tech | 2015 |
| Total yards | 668, Baylor vs. Vanderbilt | 2018 |
| Rushing yards | 385, Navy vs. Missouri | 2009 |
| Passing yards | 436, Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M | 2023 |
| First downs | 30, Baylor vs. Vanderbilt | 2018 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 59, Arkansas vs. Texas | 2014 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 2, Arkansas vs. Texas | 2014 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 57, Arkansas vs. Texas | 2014 |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| All-purpose yards | 256, Leonard Fournette (LSU) | 2015 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 5, Leonard Fournette (LSU) | 2015 |
| Rushing yards | 243, Ke'Shawn Vaughn (Vanderbilt) | 2018 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 4, Leonard Fournette (LSU) | 2015 |
| Passing yards | 402, Alan Bowman (Oklahoma State) | 2023 |
| Passing touchdowns | 4, Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech) | 2015 |
| Receptions | 16,Brennan Pressley (Oklahoma State) | 2023 |
| Receiving yards | 164, Rashod Owens (Oklahoma State) | 2023 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, Jakeem Grant (Texas Tech) | 2015 |
| Tackles | 17, Micah Awe (Texas Tech) | 2015 |
| Sacks | 2.5, shared by: Justin Braska (Western Michigan) Kendall Beckwith (LSU) | 2008 2015 |
| Interceptions | 2, Michael Carter (Minnesota) | 2012 |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 79 yds., D. J. Chark (LSU) | 2015 |
| Touchdown pass | 81 yds., Chris Hilton Jr. pass from Jontre Kirklin (LSU) | Jan. 2022 |
| Kickoff return | 99 yds., Jakeem Grant (Texas Tech) | 2012 |
| Punt return | 76 yds., Yamon Figurs (Kansas State) | 2006 |
| Interception return | 62 yds., Wyatt Middleton (Navy) | 2009 |
| Fumble return | 46 yds., Travon Bellamy (Illinois) | 2010 |
| Punt | 65 yds., Chase Turner (Houston) | 2007 |
| Field goal | 51 yds., Randy Bond (Texas A&M) | 2023 |

## Media coverage

The first three editions of the bowl were televised by NFL Network. Since 2009, it has been carried by ESPN.