The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. The 2010 and 2011 editions were instead played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas, when Amon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project. Since 2014, the game has been sponsored by Lockheed Martin and is officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Previous sponsors include Bell Helicopter (2006–2013) and PlainsCapital Bank (2003–2004).
The contest is one of 14 bowls produced by ESPN Events (previously ESPN Regional Television) and has been televised annually on ESPN since its inception. Armed Forces Insurance is the official Insurance Partner of the Armed Forces Bowl and has sponsored the Great American Patriot Award, presented at halftime at the bowl, since 2006.
History The bowl was first played in December 2003, featuring two ranked teams, No. 18 Boise State and No. 19 TCU. It was the only edition to include a ranked team (per the AP Poll) until No. 22 Army played in December 2018.
In 2010 and 2011 when Amon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project, the bowl was moved to Gerald J. Ford Stadium in nearby University Park, Texas.
Through the December 2024 playing, one of the three FBS-playing service academies (Army, Navy, and Air Force) has appeared in the game 14 times. Contractual tie-ins with the American Conference (home of Army and Navy) and the Mountain West Conference (home of Air Force) assures that one of those schools could appear in the game every year, if bowl-eligible and not already committed to another bowl.
The 2018 game, between Army and Houston, was the first sellout in the bowl's 16-year history.
Sponsorship The bowl game was inaugurated in 2003 as the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl, reflecting the sponsorship of PlainsCapital Bank. The bank's sponsorship ended after the 2004 edition, and the 2005 game was staged without corporate sponsorship.
Alltel was to assume the title sponsorship and naming rights to the game beginning in 2006, which would have been titled the Alltel Wireless Bowl to promote its mobile division, but the deal fell through. Instead, Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron took over sponsorship, and thus the game became officially known as the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. The Bell sponsorship ended after the 2013 edition. During this time, the 2010 and 2011 Armed Forces Bowl were held at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in the Dallas enclave of University Park, while Amon G. Carter Stadium was undergoing a major renovation. The game returned to Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth in 2012, after construction on that stadium was completed.
Lockheed Martin became the game's sponsor in 2014. The company has a major presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: the company's Lockheed Martin Aeronautics division is based in Fort Worth while its Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control division is based in nearby Grand Prairie. In December 2018, Lockheed Martin extended its sponsorship though 2025.
Conference tie-ins The bowl's partnership with the Big 12 Conference ended with the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Mountain West Conference was signed to provide a team to face either a team from the Pac-10 or Conference USA (C-USA), depending on the year; Pac-10 teams would play in odd number years while C-USA teams would play in even numbered years). As such, the 2006 and 2008 games featured C-USA teams Tulsa and Houston, respectively, whereas California represented the Pac-10 in 2007. The Pac-10 was unable to send a representative to the game in 2009, so C-USA sent Houston to the game for a second consecutive year. In 2010, since the Mountain West did not have enough eligible teams and Army was bowl eligible, Army played SMU in the bowl.
Following the 2013 football season, the Armed Forces Bowl signed multi-year agreements with the American Athletic Conference (The American), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Mountain West Conference, Army and Navy to set bowl match-ups for the next six seasons (Navy later joined The American, and Army committed to do so beginning with the 2024 football season).
In December 2020, it was announced that the 2020 game would be played between teams from the Pac-12 and SEC, following cancellation of the ESPN Events-owned Las Vegas Bowl (which would have been featuring those tie-ins for the first time) due to complications relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to a lack of available teams from the Pac-12, Tulsa of the American Athletic Conference was ultimately selected to face Mississippi State of the SEC.
Season Planned Actual2014* The American Big 12 The American ACC2015 Mountain West Big Ten Mountain West Pac-122016 Navy Big 12 Navy C-USA2017 Army Big Ten Army Mountain West2018 The American Big 12 The American Army2019* Mountain West Big Ten The American C-USA2020 Pac-12 SEC The American SEC Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
Game results
Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played. Date playedBowl name Winning team Losing team Attendance December 23, 2003 Fort Worth Bowl 18 Boise State 34 19 TCU 31 38,028 December 23, 2004 Fort Worth Bowl Cincinnati 32 Marshall 14 27,902 December 23, 2005 Fort Worth Bowl Kansas 42 Houston 13 33,505 December 23, 2006 Armed Forces Bowl Utah 25 Tulsa 13 32,412 December 31, 2007 Armed Forces Bowl California 42 Air Force 36 40,905 December 31, 2008 Armed Forces Bowl Houston 34 Air Force 28 41,127 December 31, 2009 Armed Forces Bowl Air Force 47 Houston 20 41,414 December 30, 2010 Armed Forces Bowl Army 16 SMU 14 36,742 December 30, 2011 Armed Forces Bowl BYU 24 Tulsa 21 30,258 December 29, 2012 Armed Forces Bowl Rice 33 Air Force 14 40,754 December 30, 2013 Armed Forces Bowl Navy 24 Middle Tennessee 6 39,246January 2, 2015 Armed Forces Bowl Houston 35 Pittsburgh 34 37,888 December 29, 2015 Armed Forces Bowl California 55 Air Force 36 38,915December 23, 2016 Armed Forces Bowl Louisiana Tech 48 Navy 45 40,542December 23, 2017 Armed Forces Bowl Army 42 San Diego State 35 35,986December 22, 2018 Armed Forces Bowl 22 Army 70 Houston 14 44,738January 4, 2020 Armed Forces Bowl Tulane 30 Southern Miss 13 38,513December 31, 2020 Armed Forces Bowl Mississippi State 28 22 Tulsa 26 9,000December 22, 2021 Armed Forces Bowl Army 24 Missouri 22 34,888December 22, 2022 Armed Forces Bowl Air Force 30 Baylor 15 43,875December 23, 2023 Armed Forces Bowl Air Force 31 24 James Madison 21 30,828December 27, 2024 Armed Forces Bowl Navy 21 Oklahoma 20 50,754January 2, 2026 Armed Forces Bowl Texas State 41 Rice 10 28,243 Source:
MVPs From inception through the 2022 edition, an MVP was named for each team. Starting with the 2023 game, only a single MVP has been named.
DateWinning team MVPLosing team MVPPlayerTeamPositionPlayerTeamPositionDecember 23, 2003 Ryan Dinwiddie Boise State QB Brandon Hassell TCU QBDecember 23, 2004 Gino Guidugli Cincinnati QB Josh Davis Marshall WRDecember 23, 2005 Jason Swanson Kansas QB Kevin Kolb Houston QBDecember 23, 2006 Louie Sakoda Utah P/K Paul Smith Tulsa QBDecember 31, 2007 Kevin Riley California QB Shaun Carney Air Force QBDecember 31, 2008 Bryce Beall Houston RB Jared Tew Air Force FBDecember 31, 2009 Asher Clark Air Force RB Tyron Carrier Houston WRDecember 30, 2010 Stephen Anderson Army LB Darius Johnson SMU WRDecember 30, 2011 Cody Hoffman BYU WR Dexter McCoil Tulsa DBDecember 29, 2012 Jordan Taylor Rice WR Austin Niklaas Air Force LBDecember 30, 2013 Keenan Reynolds Navy QB T. T. Barber Middle Tennessee LBJanuary 2, 2015 Kenneth Farrow Houston RB Chad Voytik Pittsburgh QBDecember 29, 2015 Jared Goff California QB Karson Roberts Air Force QBDecember 23, 2016 Trent Taylor Louisiana Tech WR Zach Abey Navy QBDecember 23, 2017 Ahmad Bradshaw Army QB Rashaad Penny San Diego State RBDecember 22, 2018 Kelvin Hopkins Jr. Army QB Romello Brooker Houston TEJanuary 4, 2020 Justin McMillan Tulane QB Quez Watkins Southern Miss WRDecember 31, 2020 Lideatrick Griffin Mississippi State WR/KR Christian Williams Tulsa DBDecember 22, 2021 Arik Smith Army LB Brady Cook Missouri QBDecember 22, 2022 Haaziq Daniels Air Force QB Dillon Doyle Baylor LBDecember 23, 2023 Emmanuel Michel Air Force RB December 27, 2024 Blake Horvath Navy QB January 2, 2026 Brad Jackson Texas State QB Source:
Most appearances
Updated through the January 2026 edition (23 games, 46 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances RankTeamAppearancesRecordWin pct. 1 Air Force 7 3–4 2 Houston 5 2–3 3 Army 4 4–0 4 Navy 3 2–1 Tulsa 3 0–3 6 California 2 2–0 Rice 2 1–1
Teams with a single appearance Won (9): Boise State, BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Texas State, Tulane, Utah
Lost (11): Baylor, James Madison, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU
Appearances by conference Updated through the January 2026 edition (23 games, 46 total appearances).
ConferenceRecordAppearances by seasonGamesWLWin pct.WonLost CUSA 12 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2019* Mountain West 9 2006, 2009, 2022, 2023 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017 American 7 2014*, 2019*, 2024 2016, 2018, 2020, 2025* Independents 6 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2021 SEC 3 2020 2021, 2024 Pac-12 2 2007, 2015 Big 12 2 2005 2022 Sun Belt 2 2025* 2023WAC 1 2003 ACC 1 2014* MAC 1 2004
Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year. Pac-12 record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011). The WAC no longer sponsors FBS football. Independent appearances: Army (2010, 2017, 2018, 2021), BYU (2011), Navy (2013)
Game records
TeamRecord, Team vs. OpponentYearMost points scored (one team)70, Army vs. Houston2018Most points scored (losing team)45, Navy vs. Louisiana Tech2016Most points scored (both teams)93, Louisiana Tech (48) vs. Navy (45)2016Fewest points allowed6, Navy vs. Middle Tennessee2013Largest margin of victory56, Army (70) vs. Houston (14)2018Total yards592, Army vs. Houston2018Rushing yards507, Army vs. Houston2018Passing yards467, California vs. Air ForceDec. 2015First downs 31, shared by:Louisiana Tech vs. NavyArmy vs. San Diego State20162017Fewest yards allowed 134, Cincinnati vs. Marshall 2004Fewest rushing yards allowed–3, Cincinnati vs. Marshall 2004Fewest passing yards allowed 6, San Diego State vs. Army 2017IndividualRecord, Player, TeamYearTotal yards 451, Jared Goff (California) 2015 Touchdowns (all-purpose) 5, Kelvin Hopkins Jr. (Army) 2018Rushing yards 221, Rashaad Penny (San Diego State) 2017Rushing touchdowns 5, Kelvin Hopkins Jr. (Army) 2018Passing yards 467, Jared Goff (California) Dec. 2015Passing touchdowns 6, Jared Goff (California) Dec. 2015Receiving yards 233, Trent Taylor (Louisiana Tech) 2016Receptions 12, Trent Taylor (Louisiana Tech) 2016Receiving touchdowns 3, most recently:Kenny Lawler (California) Dec. 2015Tackles 23, Marcus McGraw (Houston) 2009Sacks 3.5, James Nachtigal (Army) 2018Interceptions 3, Anthony Wright (Air Force) 2009Long PlaysRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYearTouchdown run 95 yds., Blake Horvath (Navy) 2024Touchdown pass 69 yds., Brad Jackson to Beau Sparks (Texas State) 2026Kickoff return 100 yds., Jonathan Warzeka (Air Force) 2009Punt return 85 yds., Brian Murph (Kansas) 2005Interception return 90 yds., Emmanuel Forbes (Mississippi State) Dec. 2020Fumble return 55 yds., Josh McNary (Army) 2010Punt 70 yds., Riley Riethman (Navy) 2024Field goal 52 yds., Chris Blewitt (Pittsburgh) Jan. 2015 Source:
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