The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas Valley. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada, before moving to the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, in 2021. The bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events.
Conference tie-ins Because the Las Vegas Bowl was effectively the replacement for the California Bowl, it inherited that bowl's tie-ins with the champions of the Big West Conference and the Mid-American Conference. These remained intact until 1996, after which the Big West's champion earned a berth in the Humanitarian Bowl while the MAC's champion was given a berth in the Motor City Bowl. 1997 through 1999 saw a team from the Western Athletic Conference face an at-large team, and the Mountain West Conference took over for the WAC for the 1999 and 2000 games (the 1999 game featured both WAC and Mountain West teams). Beginning in 2001, the Mountain West and Pac-12 Conferences (originally known as the Pacific-10 Conference) matched up in Las Vegas.
From 2001 until 2005, the second-place team in the Mountain West was chosen to face the Pac-12. Beginning in 2006, after its contract with the Liberty Bowl expired, the Mountain West agreed to send its champion to the Las Vegas Bowl to face the Pac-12's 5th or 6th-place team. From 2006 until 2013, the Mountain West would send a secondary team if the champion qualified for the Bowl Championship Series or, as per the rules of the Hawaiʻi Bowl, was Hawaiʻi. The 2016 game would have pitted the Pac-12's #6 team against the winner of the Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game, provided that the winner of the game does not automatically qualify for one of the College Football Playoff's six bowls as the highest-ranking member of the "Group of Five" (champions of the Mountain West, Sun Belt, American, or Mid-American Conferences, as well as the Conference USA champion comprise this group). However, since the Pac-12 only had six bowl-eligible teams and two of them qualified for New Years Six bowls, the bowl elected to invite the Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference instead of a Pac-12 team.
To heighten the profile of the game with its move to Allegiant Stadium, the Las Vegas Bowl announced a new, five-year, alternating tie-in between the SEC and Big Ten beginning 2020. An SEC team will play the Las Vegas Bowl in even-numbered years, while a Big Ten team will play in odd-numbered years. The conference not playing in the Las Vegas Bowl will play in the Duke's Mayo Bowl (formerly Belk Bowl). The Mountain West moved its top selection from the Las Vegas Bowl to the newly-established LA Bowl.
Even though 10 of the current Pac-12 teams departed for other conferences, the Pac-12 or Pac-12 "legacy teams" (the 10 schools leaving for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC) are still contractually obligated to fulfill their previous Pac-12 bowl tie-ins through the 2025 season.
History 20th century The game originated from the California Raisin Bowl, which was played in Fresno from 1981 to 1991. In 1992, Fresno State, formerly of the Big West, moved to the Western Athletic Conference. The Big West and MAC then pulled out of Fresno and sought a new home for their conference champions. They found it in Las Vegas, where organizers were looking for a way to boost hotel revenue. In those days, the Christmas season was a slow period for Las Vegas hotels and casinos. The first Las Vegas Bowl was played in 1992.
The NCAA adopted an overtime rule for the 1995 post-season and all games thereafter. In 1995, Toledo defeated Nevada, 40–37, in the first ever overtime game in Division I-A college football. The following season, the policy of overtime was adopted for regular season games to break ties.
21st century In 2001, ESPN Regional Television purchased the Las Vegas Bowl from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
On December 25, 2002, UCLA interim coach Ed Kezirian was victorious in his only game as the UCLA head coach as UCLA won 27–13 over New Mexico. In that game, New Mexico sent Katie Hnida in to kick an extra point which was the first time a woman played in a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (née Division I-A) college football game. The kick was blocked.
The 2007 Las Vegas Bowl featured a rematch between Mountain West Champion BYU and UCLA who defeated BYU during the regular season. UCLA scored first on a field goal after a fumble by BYU quarterback Max Hall. BYU answered with a touchdown reception by Austin Collie. BYU went up 17–6 with Michael Reed catch for a touchdown. A fumble by BYU with 19 seconds left in the first half allowed UCLA to score and cut the lead to 17–13. UCLA cut the deficit to 17–16 on a 50-yard field goal. With two minutes left UCLA took over at their own two-yard line. They were able to drive down to the BYU 13-yard line with 3 seconds left. The 28-yard field goal attempt was partially blocked by BYU defensive tackle Eathyn Manumaleuna and fell short giving BYU their second Vegas Bowl victory in three tries, also making the Cougars the first school to win back-to-back Las Vegas Bowls. The following year, though, the Arizona Wildcats denied BYU their third consecutive Las Vegas Bowl win by winning 31–21.
On September 25, 2013, Royal Purple was announced as the new title sponsor for the next three years. Following the expiration of Royal Purple's sponsorship of the title from 2013 to 2015, the game became officially known as the Las Vegas Bowl.
With the relocation of the Oakland Raiders to the Las Vegas area, Allegiant Stadium was constructed to replace Sam Boyd Stadium. The Las Vegas Bowl along with the other events held at Sam Boyd Stadium moved to the new stadium upon completion.
On December 2, 2020, the 2020 edition of the game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its tie-ins (SEC and Pac-12) were transferred to the ESPN Events-owned Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sponsors The bowl was known as the SEGA Sports Las Vegas Bowl from 2001 to 2002. From 2003 to 2008, the title sponsor was the Pioneer Corporation. From 2009 to 2012, the game was known as the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, as the sponsor was MAACO. From 2013 to 2015, the game was known as the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl as the sponsor was Royal Purple. For the 2016 edition, the game was known as the Las Vegas Bowl presented by GEICO as GEICO was the presenting sponsor. On July 12, 2018, it was announced that Mitsubishi would be the new title sponsor, with the game renamed as the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl as part of a two-year deal. On April 20, 2021, SRS Distribution signed a five-year agreement with ESPN to become the title sponsor, making the game the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. The sponsorship expired after the 2025 game, so the game has reverted to the Las Vegas Bowl name pending new sponsorship.
Game results Rankings per AP poll prior to the game being played.
DateWinning teamLosing teamAttendanceNotesDecember 18, 1992 Bowling Green 35 Nevada 34 15,476 notesDecember 17, 1993 Utah State 42 Ball State 33 15,508 notesDecember 15, 1994 UNLV 52 Central Michigan 24 17,562 notesDecember 14, 1995 No. 25 Toledo 40 Nevada 37 12,500 notesDecember 18, 1996 Nevada 18 Ball State 15 10,118 notesDecember 20, 1997 Oregon 41 No. 23 Air Force 13 21,514 notesDecember 19, 1998 North Carolina 20 San Diego State 13 21,429 notesDecember 18, 1999 Utah 17 Fresno State 16 28,227 notesDecember 21, 2000 UNLV 31 Arkansas 14 29,113 notesDecember 25, 2001 Utah 10 USC 6 30,894 notesDecember 25, 2002 UCLA 27 New Mexico 13 30,324 notesDecember 24, 2003 Oregon State 55 New Mexico 14 25,437 notesDecember 23, 2004 Wyoming 24 UCLA 21 27,784 notesDecember 22, 2005 California 35 BYU 28 40,053 notesDecember 21, 2006 No. 19 BYU 38 Oregon 8 44,615 notesDecember 22, 2007 No. 19 BYU 17 UCLA 16 40,712 notesDecember 20, 2008 Arizona 31 No. 17 BYU 21 40,047 notesDecember 22, 2009 No. 15 BYU 44 No. 16 Oregon State 20 40,018 notesDecember 22, 2010 No. 10 Boise State 26 No. 20 Utah 3 41,923 notesDecember 22, 2011 No. 8 Boise State 56 Arizona State 24 35,720 notesDecember 22, 2012 No. 20 Boise State 28 Washington 26 33,217 notes December 21, 2013 USC 45 No. 21 Fresno State 20 42,178 notesDecember 20, 2014 No. 23 Utah 45 Colorado State 10 33,067 notesDecember 19, 2015 No. 20 Utah 35 BYU 28 42,213 notesDecember 17, 2016 San Diego State 34 Houston 10 29,286 notesDecember 16, 2017 No. 25 Boise State 38 Oregon 28 36,432 notes December 15, 2018 No. 19 Fresno State 31 Arizona State 20 37,146 notes December 21, 2019 Washington 38 No. 18 Boise State 7 34,197 notes2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic — December 30, 2021 Wisconsin 20 Arizona State 13 32,515 notes December 17, 2022 No. 17 Oregon State 30 Florida 3 29,750 notes December 23, 2023 Northwestern 14 Utah 7 20,897 notes December 27, 2024 USC 35 Texas A&M 31 26,671 notes December 31, 2025 No. 15 Utah 44 Nebraska 22 38,879 notes Source:
MVPs
DateMVPTeamPositionDecember 18, 1992 Erik White Bowling Green QBDecember 17, 1993 Anthony Calvillo Utah State QBDecember 15, 1994 Henry Bailey UNLV WRDecember 14, 1995 Wasean Tait Toledo RBDecember 18, 1996 Mike Crawford Nevada LBDecember 20, 1997 Pat Johnson Oregon WRDecember 19, 1998 Ronald Curry North Carolina QBDecember 18, 1999 Mike Anderson Utah RBDecember 21, 2000 Jason Thomas UNLV QBDecember 25, 2001 Dameon Hunter Utah RBDecember 25, 2002 Craig Bragg UCLA WRDecember 24, 2003 Steven Jackson Oregon State RBDecember 23, 2004 Corey Bramlet Wyoming QBDecember 22, 2005 Marshawn Lynch California RBDecember 21, 2006 Jonny Harline BYU TEDecember 22, 2007 Austin Collie BYU WRDecember 20, 2008 Willie Tuitama Arizona QBDecember 22, 2009 Max Hall BYU QBDecember 22, 2010 Kellen Moore Boise State QBDecember 22, 2011 Doug Martin Boise State RBDecember 22, 2012 Bishop Sankey Washington RBDecember 21, 2013 Cody Kessler USC QBDecember 20, 2014 Travis Wilson Utah QBDecember 19, 2015 Tevin Carter Utah CBDecember 17, 2016 Donnel Pumphrey San Diego State RBDecember 16, 2017 Cedrick Wilson Jr. Boise State WRDecember 15, 2018 Ronnie Rivers Fresno State RBDecember 21, 2019 Elijah Molden Washington DBDecember 30, 2021 Braelon Allen Wisconsin RBDecember 17, 2022 Ben Gulbranson Oregon State QBDecember 23, 2023 Ben Bryant Northwestern QBDecember 27, 2024 Ja'Kobi Lane USC WRDecember 31, 2025 Devon Dampier Utah QB Source:
Most appearances Updated through the December 2025 edition (33 games, 66 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances RankTeamAppearancesRecord 1 Utah 7 5–2 2 BYU 6 3–33 Boise State 5 4–14 Oregon State 3 2–1 USC 3 2–1 Fresno State 3 1–2 Nevada 3 1–2 Oregon 3 1–2 UCLA 3 1–2 Arizona State 3 0–3 11 UNLV 2 2–0 San Diego State 2 1–1 Washington 2 1–1 Ball State 2 0–2 New Mexico 2 0–2
Teams with a single appearance Won (9): Arizona, Bowling Green, California, North Carolina, Northwestern, Toledo, Utah State, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Lost (8): Air Force, Arkansas, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Florida, Houston, Nebraska, Texas A&M
Appearances by conference Updated through the December 2025 edition (33 games, 66 total appearances).
ConferenceRecordAppearances by seasonGamesWLWin pct.WonLost Pac-12 21 1997, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023 Mountain West 20 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2019Big West 5 1993, 1994, 1996 1992, 1995 MAC 5 1992, 1995 1993, 1994, 1996 Big Ten 4 2021, 2023, 2024 2025WAC 4 2010 1997, 1998, 1999 SEC 3 2000, 2022, 2024 ACC 1 1998 Big 12 1 2025 The American 1 2016 Independents 1 2015
The record of the Pac-12 includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011). Conferences that are defunct or no longer active in FBS are marked in italics. Independent appearances: BYU (2015)
Game records