The 2004 MPC Computers Bowl was a post-season college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 between the and the Virginia Cavaliers

2004 Virginia Cavaliers football team

The 2004 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's coach was coach Al Groh. They played their home games at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.- Schedule :...

 on December 27, 2004, at Bronco Stadium

Bronco Stadium

Bronco Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Boise, Idaho, the home field of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Since 1997, it has hosted the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Bronco Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Boise, Idaho, the home field of the Boise State Broncos...

 in Boise, Idaho

Boise, Idaho

Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...

. Fresno State won the game 37-34 in overtime on a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Paul Pinegar to Stephen Spach

Stephen Spach

Stephen Spach is an American football tight end for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

.

Virginia had a complicated route to the MPC Computers bowl. Strong hopes based on a 5-0 start and a #6 ranking were dashed by a 36-3 blowout loss to Florida State

2004 Florida State Seminoles football team

-Schedule:-Miami, FL:Originally scheduled for September 6, 2004, the game between Miami and Florida State was postponed due to Hurricane Francis. On September 10, both teams met at the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL. The Seminoles took the upper hand in the first half with a 45 yard field goal by Xavier...

 and a fourth-place finish (tied with North Carolina

2004 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

-Coaching staff:-Schedule:Did not play: Clemson and Maryland.-Team Statistics:-References:...

) in the ACC. The Champs Sports Bowl

2004 Champs Sports Bowl

The 2004 Champs Sports Bowl was the 15th edition of the college football bowl game and was played on December 21, 2004, featuring the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the ....

 typically took the fourth-place bowl eligible ACC team, but Virginia declined the bid as the game (played on December 21) would have conflicted with final exams. For a time the Independence Bowl

2004 Independence Bowl

The 2004 Independence Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the and the on December 28, 2004, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was the twenty-ninth time the Independence Bowl had been played and the final game of the 2004 NCAA Division I FBS football season...

 was a possibility, as the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 (SEC) failed to produce enough bowl-eligible teams, but this was contingent on the MPC Computers Bowl getting a Big East

Big East Conference

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

 school--either Boston College, Connecticut or Syracuse--to replace an ACC team. The MPC Computers bowl normally had the sixth choice of ACC teams, which would have been Georgia Tech

2004 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

The 2004 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology in the college football season of 2004-2005. The team's coach is former Dallas Cowboys, Samford Bulldogs, and Troy Trojans coach Chan Gailey...

 or Clemson. Clemson declined all bowl invitations after a season-ending brawl, while Georgia Tech took Virginia's place at the Champs Sports Bowl. The Big East declined to send a team to the MPC Computers Bowl, so on December 1 Virginia accepted the bid.

Fresno State accepted a bid on December 1 as well, after finishing third in the Western Athletic Conference

Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...

. It was Fresno State's six straight bowl game and its first one outside of California since the 1999 Las Vegas Bowl

1999 Las Vegas Bowl

The 1999 edition to the Las Vegas Bowl was the 8th edition of that annual game. It featured the , and the Utah Utes.-Game summary:Fresno State scored first, when Utah placekicker Cletus Truhe had his field goal attempt blocked. It was recovered by Fresno State cornerback Payton Williams and...

. Virginia and Fresno State had never played each other before.