The AT&T Cotton Bowl has been an annual college football bowl game since 1937.  Southwestern Bell and its successors have sponsored the Cotton Bowl since 1996.  Following name changes in 2000 to SBC Communications and in 2006 to AT&T, the current name of the bowl game is the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.  From 1989 through 1995, Mobil Oil owned the naming rights to the Cotton Bowl and the contest was known as the Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic.

For more than 40 years, a team from the now-defunct Southwest Conference has always played as the home team in the annual Cotton Bowl Classic.  During that time, the Cotton Bowl was considered one of the elite 4 bowl games played on New Year’s Day each and every year.  However, when colleges in the Southwest Conference began serving NCAA probations for various NCAA rules violations, the Southwest Conference could not always field a team to send to the Cotton Bowl, and the Cotton Bowl lost favor with the national landscape.  At this time, the Fiesta Bowl was also gaining momentum on the national level, as it was able to attract at-large teams for national championship ramifications because it did not have an exclusive allegiance to any conference.  Mobil Oil terminated its sponsorship of the Cotton Bowl in 1995 and since that time, the Cotton Bowl has had an exclusive tie-in with the Big 12 Conference.  In the late 1990’s, the Big 12 Conference representative typically played an at-large team from either the Pacific 10 Conference or the Western Athletic Conference.  Since 1999, a team from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has been the opponent for the “host” Big 12 representative.     

The 2008-9 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic will be played on January 2, 2009.  The 2008-9 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic will feature 2 NCAA college football teams that will be ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches Poll preceding the contest.

The AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic will be televised on the Fox Sports television network.  Although the NBC television network handled the broadcasting of the Cotton Bowl Classic during the mid 1990’s, CBS Sports television network is most often associated with the broadcasting of the Cotton Bowl Classic.

Cotton Bowl Classic History

TCU defeated Marquette 16-6 in the inaugural Cotton Bowl Classic which occurred on January 1, 1937.  The University of Texas has won the most Cotton Bowl Classics with 11 victories since its inception.  Ironically, the college football team with the next most victories is a Midwestern school – the University of Notre Dame.  The University of Notre Dame has won 5 Cotton Bowl Classics, including back-to-back victories in 1978 (over Texas 38-10) and 1979 (over Houston 35-34) and then again in 1993 and 1994 (both times over Texas A&M).  The 1978 and 1979 victories showed off the talents of Notre Dame Quarterback Joe Montana who would go on to be one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time.  In the 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic, Joe Montana led the Fighting Irish over the top-ranked and heavily favored Texas Longhorns in a lop-sided 38-10 win in which Notre Dame never trailed.  The following year, Joe Montana overcame a vicious flu to lead the Fighting Irish to a thrilling 35-34 come from behind victory over Houston.  Montana orchestrated several key drives in the 4th quarter overcoming a 22 point deficit and passing for a game winning touchdown with no time left on the clock.  The University of Texas also holds the record for most losses in Cotton Bowl Classics with 10 losses.  Another Texas school, the Texas A&M Aggies is a close second with 7 Cotton Bowl Classic losses.  During the history of the Cotton Bowl Classic, there have been an amazing 4 ties, including 0-0 tie between TCU and the Air Force Academy in 1959.

In more recent history, on January 1, 2004, the Ole’ Miss defeated Oklahoma State 31-28 in a surprisingly competitive game.  Offensive and Defensive MVP honors for the game went to Quarterback Eli Manning and Defensive End Josh Cooper of Ole’ Miss.  That was Eli Manning’s final collegiate game as a Quarterback for Ole’ Miss as he is now the starting quarterback for the New York Giants of the NFL.  One year later, the University of Tennessee Volunteers handed the Texas A&M Aggies a humiliating Cotton Bowl Classic loss with a convincing 38-7 victory.  Tennessee Quarterback Rick Clausen passed for 3 touchdowns, Tennessee Running Back Gerald Riggs rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown, and Tennessee’s aggressive defense pressured Texas A&M into 5 turnovers.  Offensive and Defensive MVP honors for the game went to Quarterback Rick Clausen and Defensive Tackle Justin Harrell of Tennessee.  In the January 1, 2005 Cotton Bowl Classic, Alabama defeated Texas Tech 13-10 in a hard-fought defensive battle.  Alabama controlled the ball for almost 2/3 of the contest and Alabama’s #1-ranked scoring defense shut down any semblance of an offense by Texas Tech.  Offensive and Defensive MVP honors for the game went to Quarterback Brodie Croyle and Linebacker DeMeco Ryans of Alabama.    

Since its inception, the Cotton Bowl has been played in Cotton Bowl Stadium located in Fair Park in Dallas, Texas.  Fair Park is the site of the annual State Fair in Dallas, Texas.  Cotton Bowl Stadium has always hosted the annual college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Texas Longhorns – known as “The AT&T Red River Rivalry” game.  Although there was much speculation that the two universities would move the annual classic to another “more modern” venue following the 2007 classic, the schools recently agreed to continue to play “The AT&T Red River Rivalry” game at Cotton Bowl Stadium through 2015.  This extension agreement enabled the City of Dallas to perform much needed renovations on Cotton Bowl Stadium which allowed for the capacity increase from 68,252 to 92,107 fans, the modernization of media and VIP facilities, and the construction of a new scoreboard, new seats and updated restrooms and concession areas.