Complex sentence: The bowl replaced the defunct Houston Bowl, which played annually from 2000 to 2005, and before that the Bluebonnet Bowl, the first bowl game in Houston, played from 1959 through 1987.
Split into simpler sentences: The bowl replaced the defunct Houston Bowl, which played annually from 2000 to 2005. The first bowl game in Houston was the Bluebonnet Bowl, played from 1959 through 1987.