The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual 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...

 played in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium

Rice Stadium

Rice Stadium is a football stadium located on the Rice University campus in Houston, Texas. It has been the home of the Rice University football team since its completion in 1950 and hosted Super Bowl VIII in 1974....

 from 1959 through 1967, and again in 1985 and 1986. The game was played in the Astrodome

Reliant Astrodome

Reliant Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium is part of the Reliant Park complex...

 from 1968 through 1984, as well in 1987. When it was held in the Astrodome, it was called the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. The proceeds from the bowl games were distributed to various Harris County, Texas

Harris County, Texas

As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...

 charitable organizations. The game was discontinued following the 1987 season due to poor ticket sales and lack of a title sponsor.

The Bluebonnet Bowl generally featured a team from Texas against an out-of-state opponent; 19 out of the 29 games involved a team from Texas. From 1980 to 1987, with the exception of 1981, a team from the Southwest Conference played against an at-large opponent.

Bowl games would eventually return to Houston in 2000 with first the Houston Bowl

Houston Bowl

The Houston Bowl is a now-defunct NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was played annually in Houston, Texas from 2000 to 2005. The game was originally known as the galleryfurniture.com Bowl in 2000 and 2001...

, and then the Texas Bowl

Texas Bowl

The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, formerly known as the Texas Bowl, is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that was held for the first time in 2006 in Houston, Texas. The bowl replaced the now-defunct Houston Bowl, which was played annually from 2000 to 2005...

.

Game results

Date Played	Winning Team		Losing Team		Notes
December 19, 1959	Clemson	23		7
December 17, 1960	Alabama	3		3	notes 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl The 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl, part of the 1960 bowl game season, was the second annual contest and took place on December 17, 1960, at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference , and the Texas Longhorns, representing the...
December 17, 1961	Kansas 1961 Kansas Jayhawks football team The 1961 Kansas Jayhawks football team represented the University of Kansas in the 1961 NCAA Division I-A college football season. The Jayhawks offense scored 269 points while the defense allowed 88 points. Led by head coach Jack Mitchell, the Jayhawks competed in the Bluebonnet...	33		7
December 22, 1962		14		10
December 21, 1963		14		7
December 19, 1964		14		7
December 18, 1965		27		6
December 17, 1966		19		0
December 23, 1967	Colorado 1967 Colorado Buffaloes football team The 1967 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1967 college football season. The Buffaloes offense scored 245 points while the defense allowed 113 points. Led by head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes competed in the Bluebonnet...	31		21
December 31, 1968	SMU 1968 SMU Mustangs football team The 1968 Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team represented the Southern Methodist University in the 1968 college football season...	28		27
December 31, 1969	Houston 1969 Houston Cougars football team The 1969 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1969 college football season. It was the 24th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by eighth-year head coach Bill Yeoman who would later be...	36		7
December 31, 1970	Alabama	24	Oklahoma	24
December 31, 1971	Colorado 1971 Colorado Buffaloes football team The 1971 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1971 college football season. The Buffaloes offense scored 245 points while the defense allowed 113 points. Led by head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes competed in the Bluebonnet...	29		17
December 30, 1972	Tennessee 1972 Tennessee Volunteers football team The 1972 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1972 college football season. The Volunteers offense scored 297 points while the defense allowed 100 points...	24		17
December 29, 1973		47		7
December 23, 1974		31		31
December 27, 1975	Texas 1975 Texas Longhorns football team The 1975 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1975 college football season.-Schedule:The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 9-2-0 record and defeated #10 Colorado in the 1975 Bluebonnet Bowl, 38-21....	38		21
December 31, 1976	Nebraska 1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 1976 college football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.-Schedule:...	27	Texas Tech	24
December 31, 1977	USC	47		28
December 31, 1978	Stanford	25	Georgia	22
December 31, 1979	Purdue 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team The 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 1979 college football season.-Schedule:-Starters:...	27		22
December 31, 1980	North Carolina 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team The 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A college football season.-Regular season:...	16		7
December 31, 1981	Michigan 1981 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1981 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1981 college football season. The team's head coach was Bo Schembechler...	33	UCLA	14	notes 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl The 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on December 31, 1981. It was the 23rd Bluebonnet Bowl game. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins by a score of 33-14. This was the first bowl game meeting of a Big Ten team and a Pac 10 team outside of the Rose Bowl Game...
December 31, 1982	Arkansas	28	Florida	24
December 31, 1983		24	Baylor	14
December 31, 1984	West Virginia 1984 West Virginia Mountaineers football team The 1984 West Virginia Mountaineers football team completed the season with a 8–4 record and played in the Bluebonnet Bowl, where they beat Texas Christian 31–14.-1984 Schedule:...	31		14
December 31, 1985	Air Force 1985 Air Force Falcons football team The 1985 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy in the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Falcons came within one victory of playing for the National Championship...	24		16
December 31, 1986	Baylor	21	Colorado 1986 Colorado Buffaloes football team The 1986 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Colorado started out the season 0-4 but ended up finishing as the runner-up in the Big Eight Conference and beating Nebraska for the first time since...	9
December 31, 1987	Texas 1987 Texas Longhorns football team The 1987 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season.-Schedule:The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 6-5 record and defeated Pittsburgh in the 1987 Bluebonnet Bowl....	32	Pittsburgh 1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football team The 1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1987 college football season.-Schedule:-Team Players drafted into in the NFL:...	27