Few things in sports provide such rich tradition and joy to fans as much as bowl season in College Football. Many games take place throughout bowl season, held at locations across the country. Each game has a corporate sponsor, which sometimes creates a theme for the games making them more entertaining and interactive for viewers.
Many do not know that there were 41 bowl games in the 2025-2026 season. If a team wins six games, they become bowl eligible. This allows for teams who have had a subpar season to still participate in the magic of bowl season. For example, the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Wasabi Fenway Bowl, and the Holiday Bowl were all played on famous Major League Baseball Stadiums across America. These unique venues add to the intrigue and excitement that comes with bowl season.
Desmond Howard, the 1991 Heisman winner and college football analyst for ESPN, describes college football as “really special… The NFL is as big as it gets… but college football is so unique. There’s this really unique culture that’s there.”
Another thing that makes bowl season special is the prestige and tradition of high stakes bowl games. Games such as the Cotton, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, and Rose Bowls are the highest stake bowl games that feature the best teams year in and year out. Before the college football playoff was established in 2014, these games were played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day each year, nicknamed the “New Year’s Six Bowls.”
The Rose Bowl, known as “The Grandaddy of Them All,”holds many traditions such as the annual Rose Parade before the game where members of the parade decorate floats made out of only roses and natural plants.
Seven time National Championship winner Nick Saban says the Rose Bowl has,“the reputation of being the granddaddy of them all. Kind of growing up in the Big Ten for 12 years, that was always the goal; can you get to the Rose Bowl?”
In this year’s Rose Bowl, Indiana crushed Alabama 38-3; Alabama’s biggest bowl loss of all time in their storied history.
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Indiana’s Heisman winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza claims, “To be able to play in this atmosphere in the Rose Bowl, it’s a special moment for myself, for my family.”
Some of the more unique bowl games were the Cheez-It and Pop Tart Bowls. These food-themed bowls always bring excitement for fans. This year, the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl celebrated it’s 80th game, featuring Texas vs. Michigan, complete with the usual Cheez-It themed treats and even a massive Cheez-It themed cake for the Texas Longhorns Mascot Bevo.
The Pop Tart Bowl also featured halftime choreography, massive edible Pop Tarts, and even a silver trophy that doubles as a toaster! This year Texas beat Michigan in the Cheez-It Bowl 41-27 and BYU came back to beat Georgia Tech 25-21 in the Pop Tart Bowl.
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These unique and prestigious bowl games add to the already exciting college football season. Bowl games give teams a chance to have fun and compete for something meaningful to them at the end of the season.
