Cactus Bowl

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Cheez-It Bowl (Formerly Cactus Bowl)

Insight Bowl Corner

The Insight Bowl has been an annual college football bowl game since 1989.  From 1989 through 1996, the bowl game was known as the Copper Bowl.  In 1996, Insight Enterprises purchased the naming rights and became the title sponsor for the bowl.  From 1997 through 2001, the bowl game was known as the Insight.com Bowl and since 2002, the bowl game has been called the Insight Bowl. 

The Insight Bowl is currently played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.  From 1989 through 1999, the bowl game was played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.  From 2001 through 2005, the bowl game was played at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) located in Phoenix, Arizona.  Chase Field hosts all home games for the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League of Major League Baseball. 

Up until the 2005 Insight Bowl, the bowl game featured teams from the Big East Conference and the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10).  Starting with the 2006 Insight Bowl, the bowl game will feature a match up between teams from the Big Ten Conference and the Big 12 Conference.

The 2008 Insight Bowl game will be played on December 31, 2008.  The 2008 Insight Bowl game will feature 2 Division I college football teams that may be ranked in the top 20 of the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches Poll preceding the contest.

The Insight Bowl game has been televised on the NFL Network since 2006.  Previously, the Insight Bowl had always been televised on the ESPN Sports television network.

Insight Bowl History

Arizona defeated North Carolina State 17-10 in the inaugural Insight Bowl game which occurred on December 31, 1989.  The following year, California defeated Wyoming 17-15 in a hard-fought defensive battle.  Both the University of Arizona and the University of California are undefeated in Insight Bowl appearances with 2 victories each.  Each of the University of Wyoming and the University of Utah have appeared in 2 Insight Bowl contests, and each team has lost both such contests.  Arizona State has only appeared in one Insight Bowl.  In 2005 ASU defeated Rutgers University 45-40 in the 17th annual Insight Bowl.

In more recent history, on December 26, 2003, California defeated Virginia Tech 52-49 in a high scoring affair.  The 101 points scored in the 2003 Insight Bowl are the most points scored in the history of the bowl game.  Amazingly, the 52 points scored by California is only the third most points scored by a team in Insight Bowl history.  Colorado scored the most points in the 1999 Insight Bowl with a 62-28 win over Boston College, while Texas Tech scored the 2nd most points in the 1995 Copper Bowl with a 55-41 victory over the Air Force Academy.  Kansas State also scored 52 points in a 52-17 drubbing of Wyoming in the 1993 Insight Bowl.  California Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the current back up Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL, was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the contest, while California Free Safety Ryan Gutierrez was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the contest.  One year later, the Oregon State Beavers crushed the University of Notre Dame 38-21 in a humiliating loss for the Fighting Irish.  Notre Dame had no answer for Oregon State’s fast and superior offensive schemes, as the Beavers raced out to an early lead which it never relinquished.  Oregon State Quarterback Derek Anderson threw for over 350 yards and 4 touchdown passes and was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the contest.  Oregon State Linebacker Trent Bray was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the contest. On December 27, 2005, Arizona State University, playing in its first ever Insight Bowl, defeated Rutgers University 45-40 in a sloppy, but exciting high scoring affair.  Arizona State Quarterback Rudy Carpenter threw for over 450 yards and 4 touchdowns passes and was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the contest.  Matt Miller, the Arizona State standout Wide Receiver, caught 5 passes for 135 yards, including 2 touchdown receptions.  Arizona State Linebacker Jamar Williams was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the contest.  Despite the loss, Rutgers made its first college football bowl game appearance in almost 30 years, Rutgers Quarterback Ryan Hart threw for 376 yards and 3 touchdown passes, and Rutgers Kicker Jeremy Ito connected on 4 field goals, 2 of which were greater than 48 yards.  The 2 teams recorded the most yardage ever recorded in any bowl game with 1,211 yards of total offense.

Sun Devil Stadium

The Insight Bowl is currently played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.  Sun Devil Stadium is located on the campus of Arizona State University.  When Sun Devil Stadium was built in 1958, the seating capacity was only 30,000 people.  After several additions and improvements over the years, Sun Devil Stadium now holds a seating capacity of up to 73,379 raucous college football fans for the annual Insight Bowl.  Sun Devil Stadium is currently the home stadium for the Arizona State college football team.  In addition to hosting the annual Insight Bowl and the Arizona State football team, Sun Devil Stadium also hosted the annual Fiesta Bowl from 1971 through 2006.  Sun Devil Stadium was the home stadium for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League from 1988 through 2005.  In 2006, the Arizona Cardinals moved their home stadium to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.  In 1996, Sun Devil Stadium hosted Super Bowl XXX where the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 to win its 5th Super Bowl Championship.

From 1989 through 1999, the Insight bowl game was played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.  From 2001 through 2005, the bowl game was played at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) located in Phoenix, Arizona.  Chase Field hosts all home games for the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League of Major League Baseball. 

Stadium:

Sun Devil Stadium
NE Corner of 5th Street & College Avenue
Tempe, Arizona

Event Resources

Extra Field