page_title: Cotton Bowl Classic
section_title: 1930s
hierarchical_section_title: Cotton Bowl Classic / History / 1930s
caption_attribution_description: English: Action during the 1939 Cotton Bowl Classic between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the St. Mary's Gaels
context_page_description: The Cotton Bowl Classic, also simply known as the Cotton Bowl, is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium in Dallas before moving to AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington in 2010. Since 2014, the game has been sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and officially known as the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. It has been previously sponsored by Southwestern Bell Corporation/SBC Communications/AT&T and Mobil.
  Historically, the game hosted the champion of the Southwest Conference against a team invited from elsewhere in the country, frequently a major independent or a runner-up from the Southeastern Conference. Following the dissolution of the SWC in 1996, the game hosted a runner-up from the Big 12 Conference, facing an SEC team from 1999 to 2014. The Cotton Bowl Classic has served as one of six bowls in the College Football Playoff since the 2014 season; it hosted a national semifinal following the 2015 and 2018 seasons.
context_section_description: The Cotton Bowl Classic was founded in Dallas in 1937 at the Texas State Fair Grounds, when Texas oil executive J. Curtis Sanford financed the first one out of his own pocket. TCU and star quarterback Sammy Baugh took on Marquette, winning 16–6, but the game lost money even though some 17,000 attended. Nonetheless, Sanford persevered, and in 1938 the game made a profit as Rice of Houston defeated Colorado 28–14 in front of a crowd of 37,000.
  Some 40,000 attended the 1939 match between Saint Mary's College of California and Texas Tech, with the Gaels upsetting the undefeated Red Raiders 20–13.
caption: Action during the 1939 game
  between St. Mary's and Texas Tech
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