California Bowl

"California Raisin Bowl" redirects here. For similarly named college football bowl game, see Raisin Bowl.

California Bowl (defunct)

California Raisin Bowl
Stadium| Bulldog Stadium
Location| Fresno, California
Operated| 1981–1991
Conference tie-ins| PCAA/Big West, MAC
Sponsors

California Raisin Advisory Board (1988–1991)

The California Bowl (later the California Raisin Bowl) was a post-season college football bowl game played annually at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California, from 1981 to 1991.[1] The game featured the champions of the Big West Conference (known prior to 1988 as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association) and the Mid-American Conference.

In 1988, the California Raisin Advisory Board purchased the naming rights to the bowl.

The game was dealt a severe blow in 1992 when Fresno State moved to the Western Athletic Conference. The MAC and Big West then moved their tie-ins to Las Vegas, Nevada and created the Las Vegas Bowl. The California Bowl made plans to hold the 1992 game without tie-ins, but was unable to find a new sponsor. When organizers came up short of a $1.75 million fundraising goal, the NCAA pulled the bowl's certification. It has never returned.[2][3]

## Game results[edit]

Date played  | Winning team  | Losing team  | Notes

|
|
|

December 19, 1981 | Toledo | 27 | No. 20 San Jose State | 25 | notes
December 18, 1982 | Fresno State | 29 | Bowling Green | 28 | notes
December 17, 1983 | Northern Illinois | 20 | Cal State Fullerton | 13 | notes
December 15, 1984 | Toledo * | 13 | UNLV | 30 | notes
December 14, 1985 | No. 18 Fresno State | 51 | No. 20 Bowling Green | 7 | notes
December 13, 1986 | No. 19 San Jose State | 37 | Miami (OH) | 7 | notes
December 12, 1987 | Eastern Michigan | 30 | San Jose State | 27 | notes
December 10, 1988 | Fresno State | 35 | Western Michigan | 30 | notes
December 9, 1989 | Fresno State | 27 | Ball State | 6 | notes
December 8, 1990 | No. 25 San Jose State | 48 | Central Michigan | 24 | notes
December 14, 1991 | Bowling Green | 28 | Fresno State | 21 | notes

* UNLV won this game, but subsequently forfeited its entire schedule due to the use of ineligible players earlier in the season.

## MVPs[edit]

Season  | MVP  | Team  | Position

|
|
|

1981  |  |  |
1982  | Jeff Tedford |  | QB
1983  | Lou Wicks  |  | FB
1984  |  |  |
1985  | Mike Mancini  |  | P
1986  | Mike Perez |  | QB
Andy Marlatt  |  |
1987  | Gary Patton  |  | RB
1988  | Darrell Rosette  |  | RB
1989  | Ron Cox |  | LB
1990  |  |  |
1991  |  |  |

## Appearances by team[edit]

Rank  | Team  | Appearances  | Record  | Win %

|
|
|
|

1  | Fresno State | 5  | 4–1  | .800
2  | San Jose State | 4  | 2–2  | .500
3  | Bowling Green | 3  | 1–2  | .333
4  | Toledo | 2  | 2–0  | 1.000
T5  | Eastern Michigan | 1  | 1–0  | 1.000
T5  | Northern Illinois | 1  | 1–0  | 1.000
T5  | Ball State | 1  | 0–1  | .000
T5  | Cal State Fullerton | 1  | 0–1  | .000
T5  | Central Michigan | 1  | 0–1  | .000
T5  | Miami (OH) | 1  | 0–1  | .000
T5  | UNLV | 1  | 0–1  | .000
T5  | Western Michigan | 1  | 0–1  | .000

## Appearances by conference[edit]

Rank  | Conference  | Appearances  | Record  | Win %  | # of Teams  | Teams

|
|
|
|
|
|

T1  | Big West  | 11  | 6–5  | .545  | 4  | Fresno State (4–1)

San Jose State (2–2)
Cal State Fullerton (0–1)
UNLV (0–1)

T1  | MAC  | 11  | 5–6  | .455  | 8  | Bowling Green (1–2)

Toledo (2–0)
Eastern Michigan (1–0)
Northern Illinois (1–0)
Ball State (0–1)
Central Michigan (0–1)
Miami (OH) (0–1)
Western Michigan (0–1)

## See also[edit]

* List of college bowl games

## References[edit]

1. ^ Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", The Washington Times. December 21, 1997. Page A1.
2. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
3. ^ http://espn.go.com/ncf/topics/_/page/las-vegas-bowl "history"

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California Bowl

* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991

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