The Mineral Water Bowl is an annual American

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

between teams from the

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...

and an at large opponent hosted in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at Tiger Stadium.

History

From 1948 to 1951, the Mineral Water Bowl was a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

bowl game to showcase the Excelsior Springs High School team against another Missouri high school squad in the school's Thanksgiving contest. The Missouri High School Athletic Association never officially sanctioned the contest and forbade Excelsior Springs from playing in the game after 1950 (why Excelsior Springs was singled out while the association continued to sanction other Thanksgiving football games in the state such as the still active Kirkwood vs. Webster Groves was never explained), and after the 1951 contest featuring two different schools, the high school Mineral Water Bowl was no more. In 1954, the game was revived as a small-college game. As of 1957, it was one of 11

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

sanctioned bowl games. The bowl game continued until 1975, when declining interest led to the game being discontinued for a second time. In 1992 the bowl was revived, this time as a

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

bowl game. After 1999, the bowl was reclassified as an NCAA bowl game, this time for Division II. Representatives from the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

and

are chosen yearly for the game. The top-placing team in each conference not receiving a bid to the NCAA Division II National Football Championship playoffs receives an invitation to compete. In 2009 the MIAA announced plans to also compete in the

Kanza Bowl The Kanza Bowl was an annual American NCAA Division II college football bowl game played between teams from the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association that is played the first Saturday of each December at the ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

against teams from the Lone Star Conference. Due to financial difficulties and lack of finding a core sponsor, the Kanza Bowl was cancelled for the 2013 season.Kanza Bowl Cancelled 2013 season
Retrieved August 24, 2013 The

Live United Texarkana Bowl The Live United Texarkana Bowl, known under a naming rights agreement as the Fun Town RV Live United Bowl, is a college football bowl game played annually in Texarkana, Arkansas between teams from NCAA Division II. It is one of four NCAA Division ...

, the

Heritage Bowl The Heritage Bowl was a NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) bowl game held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The bowl pitted a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) against a team from the Southw ...

, and the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl are the only other NCAA Division II bowl games at this time. The

Pioneer Bowl The Pioneer Bowl was the name of some December college football bowl games played in two different eras. Between 1971 and 1982, the game was contested 10 times in Texas as an NCAA College Division regional final, or as a playoff game for Divis ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

was suspended following the 2012 game. The

Dixie Rotary Bowl The Dixie Rotary Bowl was a college bowl game initiated by the St. George, Utah Rotary Club and hosted at Greater Zion Stadium, the home field of Dixie State Junior College in St. George, Utah. From 1986 to 2005, the game was a junior college bow ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

was suspended in 2009. Both th
2020
an
2021
editions of the Mineral Water Bowl were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All-time scores

High school

Small college

Junior college

NCAA Division II

Appearances by team

This list is for appearances in the Mineral Water Bowl since the 2000 edition, when the bowl became a postseason

game.

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division II bowl game navbox College football bowls Bowl Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association football American football in Missouri