The Military Bowl is a post-season

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

-sanctioned Division I

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

that has been played annually each December in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

since 2008. The game was originally held at

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. located on East Capitol Street near the Anacostia River. Opened in 1 ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

before moving to

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen Navy Midshipmen football, college f ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

in 2013. The 2014 through 2019 games featured teams from the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

and the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. During initial planning stages, the game was known as the Congressional Bowl, but was first played in 2008 as the EagleBank Bowl sponsored by Washington-area financial institution EagleBank. The game became the Military Bowl when

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

was the title sponsor from 2010 to 2019. In 2020, the game was sponsored by Perspecta Inc. and officially known as the ''Military Bowl presented by Perspecta''. In 2021, the game was sponsored by

Peraton Peraton Inc. is a privately held American national security and technology company formed in 2017. It is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Its service areas include space, intelligence, cyber, defense, homeland security, citizen security, and ...

and known as the ''Military Bowl presented by Peraton''. In 2023, a new agreement made the game the ''Military Bowl presented by GoBowling.com'', and in 2024 the game became known as the ''Go Bowling Military Bowl.'' GoBowling.com is the website operated by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America to promote

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

as a sport.

Origins

The idea for the EagleBank Bowl originated with the Washington, D.C. Bowl Committee, a group founded by Marie Rudolph and Sean Metcalf in December 2006 with the intended purpose of bringing a bowl game to the Washington, D.C. area as a boon to the region's economy.Proposed D.C. Bowl Would Feature Service Academies
The Washington Post. November 29, 2007. Accessed April 30, 2008. The D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Washington, D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation announced their support of the proposed event in 2007.

History

The bowl game was one of two approved by the

(NCAA) for the 2008 college football bowl season, the other being the

St. Petersburg Bowl The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, one of several new bowl gam ...

. The NCAA's Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee approved the bowl on April 30, 2008, allowing the committee that had proposed the game to host it after the 2008 college football season. The inaugural game had its kickoff scheduled for 11 AM EST on December 20, 2008, making it the first bowl game of the 2008–09 bowl season. In 2010, organizers announced that the NCAA had granted a four-year extension of the game's bowl certification, taking it through the 2013–14 bowl season; additionally, the game received sponsorship from Northrop Grumman and was renamed. In 2010, the game generated in excess of $18 million for the Washington, D.C. area. Also, over $100,000 was donated to the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

. On December 20, 2020, several bowls were cancelled due to a lack of available teams. The Military Bowl – which again was to have featured teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference – was also unable to secure teams, and on December 21, 2020, organizers announced that the 2020 bowl would not be played. On December 26, 2021, the 2021 edition of the bowl was canceled due to COVID issues within the

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

team; it had been set to face

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

on December 27.

Conference tie-ins

Prior to the game's approval by the NCAA,

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and the

(ACC) signed agreements to participate in the game if it was approved. Under the agreement, the ACC would provide its ninth-best team for the bowl if the league had nine

bowl eligible Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...

teams. In December 2008, the initial game featured Navy against Wake Forest representing the ACC. Along with its ACC tie-in, the bowl signed an agreement with

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

to play in the 2009 edition of the game, however Army did not finish its season bowl eligible. Additionally, the ACC did not have enough eligible teams and

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

(C-USA) could not provide a team, so organizers chose

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) team

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

to fill one spot and

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

team

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

to fill the other spot. For the 2010 through 2013 games, the bowl reached agreement for an ACC team to face a C-USA team (2010), Navy (2011), Army (2012), and a

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

team (2013). If Navy or Army were not bowl eligible, a Big 12 team would be selected in 2011, and a C-USA team in 2012. In 2012, Army was not bowl eligible and the ACC could not supply a team,/http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/12/military_bowl_reports_college.html so a MAC vs.

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC) matchup was organized. Starting with the 2014 game, organizers entered a six-year agreement for the game to feature an ACC vs.

(The American) matchup. In July 2019, the bowl announced that the ACC vs. AAC arrangement would continue through the 2025–26 football season. Bold conference denotes winner of games played.

Game results

Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game. Source: :First five editions played at

:Subsequent games played at

MVPs

Source:

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 edition (15 games, 30 total appearances). ;Teams with multiple appearances ;Teams with a single appearance Won (6):

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

Lost (7):

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

, UCF,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (15 games, 30 total appearances). * The WAC no longer sponsors FBS football. * Independent appearances: Navy (2008)

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

The bowl has been televised by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

since its inception.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Bowl game navbox College football bowls Recurring sporting events established in 2008