The Fiesta Bowl is a major bowl game held since 1971. The game originated at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, where it remained until 2007, when it moved to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Ironically, the University of Phoenix -- a distance-learning institution -- has no sports teams; the name is simply a sponsorship arrangement. The stadium is the home stadium of the NFL Arizona Cardinals.)
From 1971-1977, the game featured an at-large opponent facing the champion of the Western Athletic Conference, at a time when both Arizona schools were still members of that conference. When they moved to the Pacific Eight Conference to form the Pac-10, the tie-in ended. From 1978-1992, the game pitted two at-large teams; famously, the bowl leveraged its position to host the de facto National Championship game following the 1986 season, as Miami (FL) and Penn State were both independent, free of other bowl tie-ins, and ranked #1 and #2 in the country.
In 1992, the Fiesta became part of the Bowl Coalition, which morphed into the Bowl Alliance; during this time, the bowl picked up the automatic tie-in with the newly-constituted Big 12 Conference starting in 1996. It has since remained the home bowl for the Big 12 champion, save in years when it hosted the BCS Championship Game (following the 1998 and 2002 seasons) and in years when the Big 12 champion has played in the Bowl Alliance/BCS title game elsewhere (following 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2009). The Fiesta was the first BCS bowl to reach out beyond the ranks of the BCS automatic qualifiers, selecting Utah in 2005; of the six non-AQ teams to play in BCS bowls, the Fiesta has selected four. They grabbed two in one scoop after the 2009 season, matching WAC champion Boise State with Mountain West Conference champion Texas Christian, both of whom were undefeated and ranked in the top five.
Results
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01 JAN 1982
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Penn State
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26
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Southern California
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10
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01 JAN 1983
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Arizona State
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32
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Oklahoma
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21
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02 JAN 1984
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Ohio State
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28
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Pittsburgh
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23
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01 JAN 1985
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Cal-Los Angeles
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39
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Miami (FL)
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37
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01 JAN 1986
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Michigan
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27
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Nebraska
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23
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02 JAN 1987
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Penn State
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14
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Miami (FL)
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10
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01 JAN 1988
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Florida State
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31
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Nebraska
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28
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02 JAN 1989
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Notre Dame
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34
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West Virginia
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21
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01 JAN 1990
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Florida State
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41
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Nebraska
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17
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01 JAN 1991
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Louisville
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34
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Alabama
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7
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01 JAN 1992
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Penn State
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42
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Tennessee
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17
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01 JAN 1993
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Syracuse
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26
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Colorado
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22
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01 JAN 1994
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Arizona
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29
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Miami (FL)
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0
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02 JAN 1995
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Colorado
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41
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Notre Dame
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24
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02 JAN 1996^
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Nebraska
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62
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Florida
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24
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01 JAN 1997
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Penn State
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38
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Texas
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15
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31 DEC 1997
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Kansas State
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35
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Syracuse
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18
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04 JAN 1999‡
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Tennessee
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23
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Florida State
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16
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02 JAN 2000
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Nebraska
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31
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Tennessee
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21
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01 JAN 2001
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Oregon State
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41
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Notre Dame
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9
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01 JAN 2002
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Oregon
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38
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Colorado
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16
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03 JAN 2003††‡
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Ohio State
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31
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Miami (FL)
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24
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02 JAN 2004
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Ohio State
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35
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Kansas State
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28
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01 JAN 2005
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Utah
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35
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Pittsburgh
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7
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02 JAN 2006
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Ohio State
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34
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Notre Dame
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20
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01 JAN 2007†
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Boise State
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43
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Oklahoma
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42
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02 JAN 2008
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West Virginia
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48
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Oklahoma
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28
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05 JAN 2009
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Texas
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24
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Ohio State
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21
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04 JAN 2010
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Boise State
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17
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Texas Christian
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10
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01 JAN 2011
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Oklahoma
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48
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Connecticut
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20
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† - denotes overtime
^ - Bowl Alliance Championship Game
‡ - BCS National Championship Game