The Liberty Bowl was truly a trailblazer when it was first created. While it’s not one of the biggest bowl games in college football, the game’s produced some absolute thrillers.
What makes this game so unique? We look at the details of the bowl game and what helps it stand out.
What is the Liberty Bowl?
The Liberty Bowl is a game typically played in December at in Memphis, Tennessee. The bowl game was established in 1959, but it started in a different location.
While there are no current conference tie-ins, the game used to feature a couple of conferences. The game held tie-ins for Conference USA from 1996-2013, the Mountain West from 1998-2005, and the winner of the Commander in Chief’s Trophy from 1989-1992.
The first game in 1959 featured 2 ranked teams when Penn State beat Alabama 7-0. While the stadium is host to the Memphis during the regular season, the Tigers have only made 1 appearance in the bowl game (their second comes in 2023 when they face Iowa State).
Arkansas holds the most appearances in the game with 6 and played a barn burner with a 55-53 triple-overtime win over Kansas in 2022.
Where is the Liberty Bowl?
Memphis, Tennessee has hosted the Liberty Bowl in Simmons Bank Stadium since 1965. Philadelphia Municipal Stadium played host to the Liberty Bowl for the first 5 years of the game.
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It moved to Atlantic City Convention Hall (New Jersey) in 1964 and has been in Memphis from 1965 to today at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. At the time of its creation, the game was one of a kind as it was the only cold-weather game.
That aspect plagued attendance, forcing the game to move to Memphis for a bigger stadium and better weather.
What was the Former Name of the Liberty Bowl?
The game hasn’t changed its name since its creation in 1959, but it’s had 2 sponsors during its tenure in the college football world.
St. Jude was the game’s first sponsor from 1993-1996. AXA Financial sponsored the game from 1997-2003 and since then Memphis-based AutoZone has been the sponsor of the Liberty Bowl.
