Cactus Bowl
The Cactus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989.
Originally played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then the Insight Bowl from 2002 through 2011, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl for 2012 and 2013, and the Cactus Bowl for the 2014 through 2017 seasons. In 2018 and 2019, the game was known as the Cheez-It Bowl. In 2020, the game returned to being known as the Cactus Bowl.
When the bowl was initially founded, it was played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, on the campus of the University of Arizona. In 2000, the organizers moved the game from Tucson to Phoenix. There, it was played at what is now known as Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. For the 2006 season, the bowl moved a second time. After the annual Fiesta Bowl left Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe in favor of playing in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, the bowl was relocated there as a permanent replacement. The bowl returned to its previous home of Chase Field in Phoenix for the January 2016 playing, due to renovation work at Sun Devil Stadium that was expected to last at least three off-seasons. The bowl has remained at Chase Field through the December 2019 playing, making it one of two active bowl games staged in baseball-specific stadiums, the other being the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
History
"Cactus Bowl" had been the originally planned name for what became the Copper Bowl in 1989. The game was played under the Copper Bowl name through 1996, after which title sponsorship rights were assumed by Insight Enterprises, which self-titled the game from 1997 through 2011. In 2012, restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings became the sponsor and self-titled the game for two years. Buffalo Wild Wings declined to renew sponsorship following the 2013 game, at which time organizers opted to rename the game "Cactus Bowl" rather than reverting to the Copper Bowl name. There had been a Texas-based Cactus Bowl played in Division II, but that game was discontinued after 2011. For 2014, TicketCity sponsored the new Cactus Bowl, and Motel 6 became the sponsor in 2015. In 2018, Kellogg's became the sponsor and rebranded the bowl, naming it after its cheese cracker brand, Cheez-It. In May 2020, the Cactus Bowl name returned, as Cheez-It sponsorship moved to what had been known as the Camping World Bowl played in Orlando, Florida.For the first ten years, the game was played at Arizona Stadium, on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. In 2000, the bowl's organizers moved the game to Bank One Ballpark, a baseball-specific stadium, in downtown Phoenix. In 2006, the game moved to Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University in Tempe to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which had moved to University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. The 2006 game set a record for the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I FBS bowl history, as Texas Tech came back from a 38–7 third-quarter deficit to defeat Minnesota in overtime, 44–41.
For the first three playings of the Copper Bowl, TBS carried the game. Beginning in 1992 and continuing until the 2005 playing, the game aired on ESPN. After a four-year hiatus, during which NFL Network carried the game, ESPN regained the rights beginning in 2010.
Conference tie-ins
Before 2006, the game mainly featured teams from the Pac-10, Western Athletic Conference, Big 12, and old Big East conferences. From 2006 to 2013, it began featuring an annual matchup between teams from the Big Ten and the Big 12. Starting with the 2015 game, it featured a matchup between Pac-12 and Big 12 teams. Teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference have also competed, along with teams from the now defunct Southwest Conference and Big Eight, and one independent school. In July 2019, the bowl announced tie-ins with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, starting with the 2020–21 season and continuing through the 2025–26 season.Game results
All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played.MVPs
Two MVPs are selected for each game; one an offensive player, the other a defensive player.Sportsmanship award
The bowl awarded a sportsmanship award for the 2001 through January 2016 games.| Game | Player | Team | Position |
| 2001 | Terry Pierce | Kansas State | LB |
| 2002 | Derek Anderson | Oregon State | QB |
| 2003 | Doug Easlick | Virginia Tech | FB |
| 2004 | Derek Curry | Notre Dame | LB |
| 2005 | Ryan Neill | Rutgers | DE |
| 2006 | Dominic Jones | Minnesota | DB |
| 2007 | Jonathan "Josh" Sandberg | Indiana | OG |
| 2008 | Jack Simmons | Minnesota | TE |
| 2009 | D.J. Burris | Minnesota | OG |
| 2010 | Tim Barnes | Missouri | C |
| 2011 | Tyler Nielsen | Iowa | LB |
| 2012 | Tayo Fabuluje | TCU | OT |
| 2013 | Devin Funchess | Michigan | WR |
| 2015 | Andrew Hudson | Washington | DE |
| 2016 | D. J. Foster | Arizona State | RB |
Most appearances
is the only current Big 12 school that has not played in this bowl. Seven of the current Big 12 schools have appeared multiple times. Former Big 12 members Colorado and Missouri have appeared in the bowl, but former Big 12 members Nebraska and Texas A&M have not.Updated through the December 2019 edition.
;Teams with multiple appearances
;Teams with a single appearance
Won: BYU, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan State, Syracuse, Wisconsin
Lost: Boise State, Boston College, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Rutgers, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Washington
Appearances by conference
Updated through the December 2019 edition.- Games marked with an asterisk were played in January of the following calendar year.
- Records reflect conference affiliations at the time the game was played. For example, current Pac-12 member Colorado appeared as a member of the Big 12 in 1999.
- The Pac-12's record includes appearances when the conference was the Pac-10. From 1989 through 2005, Pac-10 teams made eight appearances and were 7–1.
- Big East teams made seven appearances and were 2–5; the American Athletic Conference retains the conference charter following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines.
- Conferences that are defunct or no longer active in FBS are marked in italics.
- Independent appearances: Notre Dame
Game records
Source: