TheAll-American Bowl was an annual postseasoncollege footballbowl game played atLegion Field inBirmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as theHall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985.^[1]

In 1986, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame decided to relocate the Hall of Fame bowl game toTampa, Florida, where it eventually became known as the Outback Bowl (now theReliaQuest Bowl). The game in Birmingham continued as the All-American Bowl, which was played for five years under a different organizing body.

When theSoutheastern Conference expanded to twelve schools and began contesting aSEC Championship Game in 1992, Birmingham officials chose to host the conference title game and abandon the All-American Bowl. The SEC championship was moved to Atlanta'sGeorgia Dome two years later, leaving Legion Field without any Division I-A postseason college football until 2006, whenESPN and the city agreed to establish a new post-season game, theBirmingham Bowl.

The All-American Bowl played host to a number of successful teams from the premier college football conferences of the time (theAtlantic Coast Conference, Big Eight (nowBig 12 Conference),Big Ten Conference,Southeastern Conference andSouthwest Conference). All of them placed teams in the All-American Bowl in various years. At least one of the power conferences fielded teams in the All-American Bowl in every year of its existence; often, two of those premier conferences met in the game. TheSoutheastern Conference andAtlantic Coast Conference each placed five teams into the All-American Bowl. TheBig Ten Conference proved to be the least successful conference, having never won a game despite placing teams in four different years.

• Southwest Conference 3–0 (1.000)
• Atlantic Coast Conference 4–1 (.800)
• Southeastern Conference 3–2 (.600)
• Western Athletic Conference 1–1 (.500)
• Big Eight Conference 1–2 (.333)
• Big Ten Conference 0–4 (.000)

On several occasions, the All-American Bowl winners finished the season ranked in the AP Top Twenty poll:

• Texas A&M finished #19 in the final 1978 AP poll after defeating #19 Iowa State.^[18]
• West Virginia finished #16 in the final 1983 AP poll after defeating Kentucky.^[19]
• Kentucky finished #19 in the final 1984 AP poll and the final UPI poll after defeating #20 Wisconsin.^[20]
• Georgia Tech finished #19 in the final 1985 AP poll after defeating Michigan State.^[21]
• Texas Tech finished #19 in the final 1989 AP poll after defeating #20 Duke.^[22]

• List of college bowl games