Bowl game
For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tournament to determine an annual national champion, instead relying on a vote by sportswriters or coaches.
A notable example is the annual Banjo Bowl between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
The label "bowl" was attached to the festival name, even though the games were not always played in bowl-shaped stadiums.
The historic timing of bowl games, around the new year, is the result of two factors—warm climate and ease of travel.
The original bowls began in warm climates such as Southern California, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas as a way to promote the area for tourism and business.
As of 2018[update], the University of Alabama has played in more bowl games than any other school, with 69 appearances (counting College Football Playoff semifinals and finals).
Up until around the 1950s, the small number of games were played solely on New Year's Day, with the only major exception being if the holiday occurred on a Sunday.
The tradition of not playing bowl games on Sunday initially started from the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl not being held on Sundays for fear of spooking horses tied at churches, but in later years was done to avoid conflict with NFL games.
These conference tie-ins led to situations where the top-ranked teams in the country could not play each other in a bowl game.
Because of the vested economic interests entrenched in the various bowl games, the longer regular season compared to lower divisions of college football, and a desire not to have college players play several rounds of playoff games during final exams and winter recess, the Division I Bowl Subdivision long avoided instituting a playoff tournament to determine an annual national champion.
Instead, the National Champion in the Football Bowl Subdivision has traditionally been determined by a vote of sports writers and other non-players.
Michigan won by five on New Year's Day and the next night, Nebraska beat Tennessee (playing with an injury-hobbled Peyton Manning) by 25.
The Coaches Poll was contractually obligated to recognize the winner of the game as its national champion.
The winners from the two semi-final bowls advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship, played at a neutral site determined using bids.
The CFP then expanded to a 12-team format for the 2024–25 season, with members of the New Year's Six now either hosting the quarter-finals and semi-finals on a rotating basis.
The Canadian Football League nicknames one of their rivalries as the Banjo Bowl and another QEW Bowl (also known as the Battle of Ontario); like most Canadian sports leagues, however, the CFL's championship is instead known as a cup (in the CFL's case, the Grey Cup).
At the NCAA top level of football, the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, previously known as Division I-A from 1978 through 2005), teams must earn the right to be bowl eligible, generally by winning at least six games and by not having a losing record at the end of their regular season schedule.
Alternately, a bowl-eligible team may receive an at-large invitation to a bowl game, independent of conference tie-ins.
The SWAC has historically had a longer regular season that extends past Thanksgiving weekend, preventing its teams from participating in the FCS tournament and more closely mirroring the FBS.
Additionally, the Division III championship game has historically been known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.
[9] The championship game of the Superliga Nacional de Futebol Americano is known as the Brasil Bowl.
In Denmark, the national championship game is called Mermaid Bowl, named after the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
In Finland, the national championship game is called Vaahteramalja ("Maple Bowl") and was first held in 1980.
In Germany, the national championship game in American football is called the German Bowl and was first held in 1979.
Other, related, national championship games in Germany include the German Flag Bowl (est.
[10] The annual championship game of the British American Football Association National Leagues is known as the Britbowl.
The championship game of the American Football Ireland Premier Division is called the Shamrock Bowl.
