Tony the Tiger was a staple in the lives of many millennials, and now he’s extending his reach through college football.
How did the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl come about? And what else do you need to know about the greatest bowl game tradition there is?
What Is the Sun Bowl?
The Sun Bowl is the country’s second oldest college football bowl game, tied with the Sugar and Orange Bowl and just behind the Rose Bowl. Typically, it features teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pac-12.
While it’s now a game for college teams, the first game featured two high school teams.
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The El Paso All-Stars beat Ranger 25-21 back in 1935 with 3,000 people in attendance. The next year is when college teams first played in the game.
Texas Tech leads the way with the most appearances (9), but their last appearance was in 1993. Arizona State holds the most appearances (7) for a Pac-12 team, while Pittsburgh (5) and North Carolina (5) hold the same for the ACC. Pitt won last year’s game against UCLA 37-35.
Where Is the Sun Bowl?
The Sun Bowl is played on the campus of the UTEP, with the name of the bowl game coming from the actual stadium itself. The Sun Bowl stadium was first built in 1963 and has played host to this bowl game since its creation.
Before the Sun Bowl was built, the game was played at Kidd Field from 1938-1962 and Jones Stadium from 1935-1937
What Was the Former Name of the Sun Bowl?
While the name remained mostly consistent, the game has had multiple sponsors. Previous sponsors include John Hancock (1985-1988), Norwest Bank (1996), Norwest Corporation (1997-1998), Wells Fargo (1999-2003), Vitalis (2004-2005), Brut (2006-2009), and Hyundai (2010-2018).
The only time this game wasn’t called the Sun Bowl was from 1989-1993 when it was the John Hancock Bowl. No sponsors were tied to this game from 1936-1985 and 1994-1995.
Do Frosted Flakes Get Dumped on the Winning Coach?
In the spirit of this great sport, the Sun Bowl adds its spin to the bowl season. Multiple bowls nowadays have different foods involved in their name and thus have various celebrations (see: the Duke’s Mayo Bowl).
With Tony the Tiger being the face of Frosted Flakes, the Sun Bowl leaned into the college football tradition for a fun celebration. The winning coach gets, you guessed it, Frosted Flakes dumped on them at the end of the game.
There’s also a Tony the Tiger mascot at the game, and he participates in the postgame ceremony.
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