[2] The Hall of Fame Classic was a mid-level bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1985.

In the spring of 1986, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame decided to discontinue their association with the bowl and realign with a new game to be played in Tampa Stadium which would inherit the Hall of Fame Bowl name.

[2] Tampa-based restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse became the game's title sponsor in April 1995, allowing the bowl to increase its payout to participants and sign agreements with the SEC and the Big Ten conferences, creating an annual cross-regional match-up that has continued ever since.

[5] Though it had signed a six-year extension in 2019, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse decided to discontinue its association with the game in March 2022 in a cost-cutting measure, ending the longest continuous title sponsorship in college bowl history and resulting in a temporary renaming of the game to Tampa Bay Bowl.

[6][7] In June 2022, Tampa-based cybersecurity company ReliaQuest was announced as the new title sponsor.

[9] The bowl is played on New Year's Day unless January 1 falls on a Sunday, in which case it is moved to the following Monday.

Lost (5): Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, NC State, Purdue Updated through the December 2024 edition (39 games, 78 total appearances).