[2] The game originally gave an automatic invite to a team from the now-defunct Southwest Conference (SWC).

The SWC was able to provide teams for the next two seasons (Baylor Bears in 1994 and Texas A&M Aggies in 1995) before the conference disbanded.

During the 1996 Alamo Bowl, the Iowa Hawkeyes wore plain black helmets (removing their tigerhawk logo and gold stripe) in honor of linebacker Mark Mitchell's mother, who died in a car accident while traveling to San Antonio for the game.

14 ranked Buffaloes after kicking a field goal to win 31–28, completing a perfect non-conference schedule at 6-0 (the Badgers finished with a 2-6 record in the Big Ten).

The 2007 Alamo Bowl between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Texas A&M Aggies was attended by 66,166, an Alamodome facility-record crowd for a sporting event, breaking the previous record set by the Iowa Hawkeyes and Texas Longhorns in the 2006 Alamo Bowl.

Under the terms of the agreement, the now Pac-12 Conference's (Pac-12) second-choice team earns a bid to the Alamo Bowl.

[5] The Pac-12's second-choice team was previously contracted to play in the Holiday Bowl against the third choice from the Big 12.

The 2011 game was also the first Alamo Bowl to feature a season's Heisman Trophy winner, Baylor's Robert Griffin III.

Source:[7][8][9] The bowl's sportsmanship award is named after Fred Jacoby,[10] who served as SWC commissioner from 1982 to 1993.