Silicon Valley Football Classic The Silicon Valley Football Classic ( SVFC ) , sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley Bowl or Silicon Valley Classic , was an NCAA - certified Division I - A post - season college football bowl game that was played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San Jose State University in San Jose , California , from 2000 to 2004 . It had a contractual tie - in with the Western Athletic Conference and the Pac - 10 . The bowl was initially televised on Fox Sports Net and later moved to ESPN2 . History . 2000 . The Silicon Valley Bowl got off to a positive start as the 2000 game matched mid - major conference powers Air Force against Fresno State . The game drew about 85 % of the stadium ' s capacity and fans saw an exciting 37 - 34 contest with one of the most memorable finishes of the year . Trailing 37 - 34 to Air Force with 14 seconds left , Fresno State was going to go for the win , not the tie . The Bulldogs faked a field goal , but holder Jason Simpson ' s pass to Giachino Chiaramonte fell incomplete in the end zone and Air Force claimed the inaugural Silicon Valley Classic . 2001 . The 2001 edition proved to be just as entertaining as Big 10 power Michigan State accepted an invitation to play Fresno State . The game was a near sellout with over 30 , 000 fans in attendance . Michigan State would defeat Fresno 44 - 35 in a shootout that would be the last college game for the 2002 NFL Draft first pick , David Carr . Carr would throw for 531 yards and 4 touchdowns in a game that also featured future NFL players Jeff Smoker , Charles Rogers , TJ Duckett , and Bernard Berrian . 2002 . Things would eventually take a turn for the worse in 2002 when only 10 , 132 fans attended the third Silicon Valley Bowl , which featured Fresno St . and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team . The 2002 game was hampered by bad weather combined with Georgia Tech bringing very few fans across the country to the game . Fresno State defeated Georgia Tech 30 - 21 . 2003 . Fellow California team UCLA accepted an invitation to the 2003 game against Fresno State , but attendance still only reached 20 , 126 fans , representing approximately 64 % of stadium capacity . After the 2003 game , the NCAA instituted new rules for the 2004 - 05 Bowl Season stating that stadiums had to draw at least 70 % of their capacity for bowl games in order to continue hosting them . 2004 . The 2004 game would mark the end of the bowl . Although the bowl once again would have pre - season bowl tie - ins with the WAC and Pac - 10 , neither conference would produce enough bowl - eligible teams to fulfill their obligations to the Classic . Although Fresno State ' s 8 - 3 record would normally have gained the Bulldogs an invitation to the game , WAC conference champion Boise State opted to play in the Liberty Bowl against Louisville , thus allowing 2nd - place Fresno to play in the Humanitarian Bowl against Virginia in a matchup that was normally reserved for the WAC conference champion . Silicon Valley Bowl officials would have to make do and invited Northern Illinois of the Mid - American Conference and Troy State of the Sun Belt Conference as at - large teams . The two schools fielded relatively low - profile teams that year , and both schools were located more than 2 , 000 miles away from the game ' s location . The two teams also represented two of the three lowest - ranked bowl eligible teams in the NCAA that season . The only other bowl eligible team that could have been picked was another team from the MAC in Akron . Although higher profile teams such as Clemson and South Carolina were also bowl eligible , and could have drawn larger attendance numbers , both schools endured a self - imposed bowl ban that year because of a brawl that occurred between the two teams earlier in the season . The 2004 Silicon Valley Bowl game itself was a disaster from the start , in part because of a severe thunderstorm that caused many local fans to stay away from the game . Also , just prior to the opening kickoff , the driving rain and wind caused an electrical transformer outside the stadium to malfunction , causing two light stanchions inside the stadium to fail . There also were persistent problems with the television feed that included starting the game 23 minutes late . Game attendance was a dismal 5 , 494 , which represented approximately 18 % of Spartan Stadium ' s capacity of 30 , 456 . Even though the play by both teams was competitive and exciting , the inclement weather , empty stands and bad lighting amounted to a very unattractive national television broadcast . Aside from the complete failure of the 2004 game , there were other issues that led to the bowl game ' s demise . Three out of the five games were played in horrible weather conditions . The type of rain experienced during the 2002 , 2003 and 2004 games is highly uncommon in the San Jose area at that time of year . Also , the Classic was supposed to have a tie - in with the Pac - 10 by offering an automatic berth to the 7th bowl eligible team in the conference . The PAC - 10 and WAC tie - ins were supposed to make travel easier for fans of both bowl participants . However , during the bowl ' s five - year run , the PAC - 10 conference only once produced enough bowl eligible teams to fill its spot in the Silicon Valley Classic . Also , the Classic received very little support from the local San Jose residents . Organizers hoped from the outset the host school would send its own San Jose State Spartans to compete in the bowl , thus drawing attendance numbers up . Although the Spartans were bowl eligible in 2000 , the bowl bid went to Fresno State because the Bulldogs finished with a better overall win - loss record . Financial Impact . Surprisingly , the 2004 game was a financial success . This was largely due to the bowl requiring each school to purchase 8 , 000 tickets at $ 45 each for a total payout to the bowl of $ 720 , 000 . Furthermore , both schools accepted no upfront money to play in the game . Troy State had not yet appeared in a bowl game since moving to Division 1 in 2002 and Northern Illinois had not played in a bowl in 21 years . The advantage of featuring lower - profile programs in the 2004 Classic was that both schools were willing to make huge sacrifices just to appear in a nationally televised bowl game . Also , the city of San Jose and Hewlett - Packard each paid $ 100 , 000 to be named as primary bowl sponsors , and the WAC made a $ 300 , 000 commitment as well . The Classic also spent very little money on advertising . Despite the low attendance numbers , it was estimated the bowl netted a $ 200 , 000 profit in 2004 . The bowl organizers planned to use these proceeds toward the 2005 game , which they hoped would bring more familiar west coast schools . City officials estimated the game brought roughly 6 . 4 million dollars to the San Jose economy annually through increased hotel bookings and dining in what bowl and city officials stated is normally the slowest tourism week of the year . Official end . In the end , poor attendance figures were too much to overcome to keep the Classic alive . On April 20 , 2005 , it was announced the game ' s license would not be renewed by the NCAA and the Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee . The SVFC was replaced by the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego , California .