Liberty Bowl
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Stadium	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
Previous stadiums	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (1959–1963) Convention Hall (1964)
Previous locations	Philadelphia (1959–1963) Atlantic City, New Jersey (1964)
Operated	1959–present
Conference tie-ins	Big 12 #4 Pick[1] vsSEC Pool Pick[2] The American (alternate)[3]
Previous conference tie-ins	C-USA (1996–2013) MWC (1998–2005) winner of theCommander in Chief's Trophy (1989–1992)
Payout	US$6 million (2022)
Website	libertybowl.org
Sponsors
St. Jude (1993–1996) AXA Financial (1997–2003) AutoZone (2004–present)
Former names
Liberty Bowl (1959–1992) St. Jude Liberty Bowl (1993–1996) AXA Liberty Bowl (1997–2003)
2023 matchup
Memphis vsIowa State (Memphis 36–26)
2024 matchup
Texas Tech vs.Arkansas (Arkansas 39–26)

TheLiberty Bowl is an annual Americancollege footballbowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played atPhiladelphia Municipal Stadium inPhiladelphia before being held atAtlantic City Convention Hall in 1964. Since 1965, the game has been held atSimmons Bank Liberty Stadium inMemphis, Tennessee. Because of the scheduling of the bowl game near the end of the calendar year, no game was played during calendar years 2008 or 2015, while two games were played in calendar years 2010 and 2016.

Since 2004, the game has been sponsored by Memphis-based auto parts retailerAutoZone and officially known as theAutoZone Liberty Bowl. Previous sponsors includeSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital (1993–1996) andAXA Financial (1997–2003).

A. F. "Bud" Dudley, a formerVillanovaathletic director, created the Liberty Bowl in Philadelphia in 1959. The game was played atPhiladelphia's Municipal Stadium. It was the only cold-weather bowl game of its time, and was plagued by poor attendance. The first game was the most successful of the five held in Philadelphia, as 38,000 fans watchedPenn State beatAlabama, 7–0, in the bowl'sinaugural edition.

A group ofAtlantic City businessmen convinced Dudley to move his game from Philadelphia to Atlantic City'sConvention Hall for 1964 and guaranteed Dudley $25,000.^[4] It would be the first major (University Division, nowDivision I) bowl game played indoors.AstroTurf was still in its developmental stages and was unavailable for the game. Convention Hall was equipped with a 4-inch-thick (100 mm) grass surface with 2 inches (51 mm) of burlap underneath it (as padding) on top of concrete. To keep the grass growing, artificial lighting was installed and kept on 24 hours a day. The entire process cost about $16,000.End zones were only 8 yards long, rather than the regulation 10 yards. 6,059 fans sawUtah routWest Virginia, 32–6. Dudley was paid $25,000 from Atlantic City businessmen, $60,000 from the gate, and $95,000 from television revenues, and cleared $10,000 net profit.^[5]

In 1965, Dudley moved the game toMemphis, Tennessee, where it made its home at Memphis Memorial Stadium to much larger crowds; the venue was renamed asLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in December 1975.^[6] Having been played every college football season since 1959, the game has established itself as one of the oldest non-New Year's Six bowls.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Liberty Bowl offered an automatic invitation to the winner of theCommander-in-Chief's Trophy, if that team wasbowl eligible.^[7] Due to the limited success ofservice academy football during this era, the only academy to appear in the Liberty Bowl as a result of this arrangement wasAir Force, which appeared in four consecutive games, 1989–1992.

Beginning in 1996, the Liberty Bowl began an affiliation with the newly launchedConference USA (C-USA), offering its champion an automatic bid. Beginning in 2005, the winner of C-USA was determined by the newly createdC-USA championship game. The winner of that game was customarily offered the bowl berth from 2005 to 2013.

In 1996 and 1997, the opponent for the C-USA champion was a team from theBig East. In 1998, the Liberty Bowl replaced theHoliday Bowl in a shared contract with theCotton Bowl and had second choice between theWAC champion and a team from theSEC. From 1999 to 2005, the opponent for the C-USA champion was theMountain West champion. There were two exceptions:

• 2004: Mountain West championUtah qualified for theBCS. In their place, the Liberty Bowl choseWAC championBoise State.
• 2005: Mountain West championTCU chose to play in the2005 Houston Bowl. At-large WAC teamFresno State took their place.

In 1999, the Mountain West Conference did not have an outright champion, as three teams tied for the conference lead. The conference's bid for the game was given toColorado State.

The bowl's contract from 2006 until 2013 pitted the winner of the C-USA championship game against the eighth pick from the SEC.The American was to provide its fifth-place team as an alternate if the SEC could not provide a team. The SEC was also given veto power for the bowl, and elected to use it in 2011 to block C-USA championSouthern Miss from playingVanderbilt; instead,Cincinnati got the spot and Southern Miss accepted an invitation to the2011 Hawaii Bowl instead.^[8][9]

Since 2014, the matchup features a team from the SEC against the fourth pick from theBig 12 Conference. The Liberty Bowl is part of a six-bowl SEC pool arrangement that also involves theDuke's Mayo (formerly Belk) in odd-numbered years or theLas Vegas in even-numbered years,Music City,ReliaQuest,Gator, andTexas bowls; these bowls will choose one representative from the conference each, while theCollege Football Playoff receiving first choice (usually theSugar Bowl in years it does not serve as a national semifinal) and theCitrus Bowl second choice.

The game is televised nationally onESPN, and is carried nationwide byESPN Radio, and internationally byESPN International.

The 2010 win byUCF was the program's first-ever bowl victory.

The 2011 game matched Coaches' Poll 24th-rankedCincinnati against upstartVanderbilt, and unlike most lower tier bowls, it aired on the broadcast networkABC rather than its cable brethrenESPN. Cincinnati defeated Vanderbilt in a second-half comeback.

The 2012 Liberty Bowl featured an unusual rematch of a regular season game between theIowa State Cyclones (9th place in theBig 12) and theTulsa Golden Hurricane (C-USA champions).^[10] Iowa State had defeated Tulsa, 38–23, in the season's first weekend, however Tulsa defeated Iowa State, 31–17, in the Liberty Bowl.^[10] Though the bowl normally selects a team from the SEC, it invited Iowa State because the SEC did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of its contracted bowl games.^[11]

In 2020, after a matchup ofWest Virginia andTennessee was announced on December 20, the Tennessee program had to withdraw on December 21 due to positiveCOVID-19 testing.^[12]Army, who had accepted an invitation to theIndependence Bowl before it was cancelled due to a lack of available teams, was named as their replacement.^[13]

In the 2022 matchup,Kansas made their first bowl game appearance in 14 years, againstArkansas. The Razorbacks took an early 38–13 lead in the game. The Jayhawks then scored 25 unanswered points to send the game into overtime. The teams traded touchdowns in the first and second overtime. In the third overtime, with teams alternating two-point conversion attempts per NCAA overtime rules, the Razorbacks scored on their attempt and stopped the Jayhawks' attempt, resulting in a 55–53 Arkansas win. Kansas quarterbackJalon Daniels set a Kansas single-game record and a Liberty Bowl record for passing yards, with 544.^[14]

The first five editions (1959–1963) were played inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. The 1964 game was played inAtlantic City, New Jersey. All subsequent editions have been played inMemphis, Tennessee.

Rankings are based on theAP Poll prior to the game being played.

Source:^{[15][16]: 69, 72}

The bowl has named a single MVP for each game, since inception. In nine instances, the MVP has played on the losing team, including four instances in a seven-game span during 1977–1983. The most recent MVP to play on the losing team was Kwame Ellis of Stanford in 1995. Quarterback Rob Perez of Air Force was named MVP twice, in 1990 and 1991.

Source:^{[16]: 70 [17]}

† indicates the MVP played on the losing team

Updated through the December 2024 edition (66 games, 132 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (11):Baylor,Cincinnati,Georgia Tech,Indiana,Kentucky,Nebraska,Notre Dame,Oklahoma State,Oregon State,Purdue,USC
Lost (15):Army,Boise State,Boston College,Fresno State,Maryland,Michigan State,Minnesota,North Carolina,Oregon,Pittsburgh,Rice,Stanford,UCLA,Vanderbilt,Villanova

Source:^[16]: 71

Updated through the December 2024 edition (66 games, 132 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Records reflect conference membership at the time each game was played.
  • The 1965 game was contested between two SEC teams. Two independent teams have met multiple times.
• Conferences that are defunct or no longer active in FBS are marked initalics.
  • ThePac-12 Conference appeared in the bowl when the conference was known as the Pac-8 and Pac-10.
  • The American's record includes appearances of theBig East Conference, as The American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in three games, compiling a 2–1 record.
• Independent appearances: Army (2020), Boston College (1983), East Carolina (1994, 1995), Georgia Tech (1972), Louisville (1993), Miami (FL) (1961, 1966), Navy (1981), Notre Dame (1983), Oregon (1960), Oregon State (1962), Penn State (1959, 1960, 1979), South Carolina (1988), Syracuse (1961), Tulane (1970, 1979), Villanova (1962), Virginia Tech (1966, 1968).

As of 2023^[update], every SEC member exceptFlorida has played in the game. Every current, former or future Big 12 member exceptOklahoma andTexas have played in the game. A majority of teams that are members of thePower Five conferences have appeared in the game.

Source:^{[16]: 73–87}

The earliest editions of the bowl were broadcast byNBC (1959–1963) andABC (1964–1980). Several different networks carried the 1981 through 1989 games, includingUSA Network,Katz Broadcasting,^[19] andRaycom.^[20] Since 1990, the game has been broadcast predominantly byESPN, with some editions onABC.^[21]

• Official website

• Liberty Bowl
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