The Alamo Bowl is a college football post-season bowl game featuring NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been played in late December, although it has been contested in early January three times. The bowl has had tie-ins with several athletic conferences, most recently the Big 12 Conference and Pac-12 Conference. Since 2007, the game has been sponsored by Valero Energy Corporation and is officially known as the Valero Alamo Bowl.
History
The game was previously known as the Builders Square Alamo Bowl (1993–1998), the Sylvania Alamo Bowl (1999–2001), and the MasterCard Alamo Bowl (2002–2005). The logo of the event has evolved to reflect the changes in sponsorship. On May 24, 2007, the Alamo Bowl announced a partnership with San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corporation, and thus the bowl's full name was changed. The partnership with Valero remained place through the 2025 edition.
The game originally gave an automatic invite to a team from the now-defunct Southwest Conference (SWC). However, in 1993, only two of the eight SWC teams finished with the necessary 6 wins against Division I-A teams to become bowl-eligible, and those two teams were already committed to other bowls, so the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten were invited instead. 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.
The 2002 Alamo Bowl played between the Colorado Buffaloes and Wisconsin Badgers was the first Alamo Bowl to go into overtime, with the unranked Badgers defeating the No. 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 2005 Alamo Bowl ended with one of the most controversial plays in bowl game history. During the multi-lateral play, almost the entire Nebraska Cornhuskers team and coaching staff as well as half of the Michigan Wolverines sideline came onto the field, and the Cornhuskers gave their coach a Gatorade shower before the play was blown dead. It drew parallels to 1982's "The Play", 2000's "Music City Miracle", and 2002's "Bluegrass Miracle". Nebraska won the game, 32−28, after Michigan was not able to reach the endzone.
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 in the 2006 Alamo Bowl. The Nittany Lions won the game, 24–17.
The Alamo Bowl has sold out at least seven editions: 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011.
On August 28, 2009, the Alamo Bowl organizers announced they had reached an agreement with the then Pac-10 Conference to replace the Big Ten in the Alamo Bowl. Under the terms of the agreement, the Pac-10's second-choice team would earn a bid to the Alamo Bowl. The agreement took effect beginning with the 2010 college football season. The Pac-10's second-choice team was previously contracted to play in the Holiday Bowl against the third choice from the Big 12 Conference. The Big 12's third-choice also moved to the Alamo Bowl, with the Holiday Bowl receiving third choice of team from the Pac-10 and the fourth choice from the Big Ten. The 2009 agreement persisted through the expansion of the Pac-10 when it became the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
In the 2011 Alamo Bowl, the Baylor Bears and Washington Huskies combined to score 123 points, breaking the record for the most points scored in a bowl game in college football history. Baylor won the game, 67–56. The 2011 game was also the first Alamo Bowl to feature a season's Heisman Trophy winner, Baylor's Robert Griffin III.
For bowls following the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Pac-12 "legacy schools" (former Pac-12 schools who left the conference in 2024) continued to fulfill their prior conference's tie-in role.
Game results
All rankings are taken from the AP poll prior to the game being played.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Date
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;" colspan="2"|Winning team
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;" colspan="2"|Losing team
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Attnd.
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Notes
|-
| December 31, 1993 || California || 37 || Iowa || 3 || 45,716 ||notes
|-
| December 31, 1994 || #24 Washington State || 10 || Baylor || 3 || 44,106 ||notes
|-
| December 28, 1995 || #19 Texas A&M || 22 || #14 Michigan || 20 || 64,597 ||notes
|-
| December 29, 1996 || #21 Iowa || 27 || Texas Tech || 0 || 55,677 ||notes
|-
| December 30, 1997 || #16 Purdue || 33 || #24 Oklahoma State || 20 || 55,552 ||notes
|-
| December 29, 1998 || Purdue || 37 || #4 Kansas State || 34 || 60,780 ||notes
|-
| December 28, 1999 || #13 Penn State || 24 || #18 Texas A&M || 0 || 65,380 ||notes
|-
| December 30, 2000 || #8 Nebraska || 66 || #19 Northwestern || 17 || 60,028 ||notes
|-
| December 29, 2001 || Iowa || 19 || Texas Tech || 16 || 65,232 ||notes
|-
| December 28, 2002 || Wisconsin || 31 || #14 Colorado || 28 || 50,690 ||notes
|-
| December 29, 2003 || #22 Nebraska || 17 || Michigan State || 3 || 56,229 ||notes
|-
| December 29, 2004 || #24 Ohio State || 33 || Oklahoma State || 7 || 65,265 ||notes
|-
| December 28, 2005 || Nebraska || 32 || #20 Michigan || 28 || 62,016 ||notes
|-
| December 30, 2006 || #18 Texas ||26|| Iowa ||24|| 65,875 || notes
|-
| December 29, 2007 || Penn State || 24 || Texas A&M ||17|| 66,166 ||notes
|-
| December 29, 2008 || #25 Missouri || 30 || #22 Northwestern ||23 || 55,986 ||notes
|-
| align=right|January 2, 2010 || Texas Tech || 41 || Michigan State || 31 || align=center| 64,757 || notes
|-
| December 29, 2010 || #16 Oklahoma State || 36 || Arizona || 10 || align=center| 57,593 || notes
|-
| December 29, 2011 || #15 Baylor || 67 || Washington || 56 || align=center| 65,256 || notes
|-
| December 29, 2012 || #23 Texas || 31 || #13 Oregon State || 27 || align=center| 65,277 || notes
|-
| December 30, 2013 || #10 Oregon || 30 || Texas || 7 || align=center| 65,918 || notes
|-
| align=right|January 2, 2015 || #14 UCLA || 40 || #11 Kansas State || 35 || align=center| 60,517 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| align=right|January 2, 2016 || #11 TCU || 47 || #15 Oregon || 41 || 64,569 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 29, 2016 || #12 Oklahoma State || 38 || #10 Colorado || 8 ||59,815|| notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 28, 2017 || #13 TCU || 39 || #15 Stanford || 37 ||57,653 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 28, 2018 || #12 Washington State || 28 || #25 Iowa State || 26 || 60,675 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 31, 2019 || Texas || 38 || #12 Utah || 10 || 60,147 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 29, 2020 || #20 Texas || 55 || Colorado || 23 || 10,822 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 29, 2021 || #14 Oklahoma || 47 || #15 Oregon || 32 || 59,121 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 29, 2022 || #12 Washington || 27 || #21 Texas || 20 || 62,730 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 28, 2023 || #14 Arizona||38||#12 Oklahoma || 24 || 55,853 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 28, 2024 || #17 BYU || 36 || #20 Colorado || 14 || 64,261 || notes
|-<!--AP RANKINGS-->
| December 30, 2025 || TCU || 30 || #16 USC || 27 || 54,751 || notes
|}
Source:
MVPs
thumb|right|upright=.8|1999 defensive MVP [[LaVar Arrington]]
thumb|right|upright=.8|2021 offensive MVP [[Kennedy Brooks]]
Two MVPs are selected for each game; one offensive player and one defensive player.
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;" rowspan=2 valign="top" | Year ||! style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;" colspan=3 valign="Center" | Offensive MVP||! style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;" colspan=3 valign="Center" | Defensive MVP
|-
| Player || Team || Pos. || Player || Team || Pos.
|-
|1993 || Dave Barr || California || QB || Jerrott Willard || California || LB
|-
|1994 || Chad Davis || Washington State || QB || Ron Childs || Washington State || LB
|-
|1995 || Kyle Bryant || Texas A&M || K || Keith Mitchell || Texas A&M || LB
|-
|1996 || Sedrick Shaw || Iowa || RB || Jared DeVries || Iowa || DL
|-
|1997 || Billy Dicken || Purdue || QB || Adrian Beasley || Purdue || S
|-
|1998 || Drew Brees || Purdue || QB || Rosevelt Colvin || Purdue || DE
|-
|1999 || Rashard Casey || Penn State || QB || LaVar Arrington || Penn State || LB
|-
|2000 || Dan Alexander || Nebraska || RB ||Kyle Vanden Bosch || Nebraska || DL
|-
|2001 || Aaron Greving || Iowa || RB ||Derrick Pickens || Iowa || DL
|-
|2002 || Brooks Bollinger || Wisconsin || QB ||Jeff Mack || Wisconsin || LB
|-
|2003 || Jammal Lord || Nebraska || QB ||Trevor Johnson || Nebraska || DL
|-
|2004 || Ted Ginn Jr. || Ohio State || WR/PR/KR ||Simon Fraser || Ohio State || DE
|-
|2005 || Cory Ross || Nebraska || RB ||Leon Hall || Michigan || CB
|-
|2006 || Colt McCoy || Texas || QB ||Aaron Ross || Texas || CB
|-
|2007 || Rodney Kinlaw || Penn State || RB ||Sean Lee || Penn State || LB
|-
|2008 || Jeremy Maclin || Missouri || WR/PR/KR ||Sean Weatherspoon || Missouri || LB
|-
|Jan. 2010 || Taylor Potts || Texas Tech || QB ||Jamar Wall || Texas Tech || CB
|-
|Dec. 2010 || Justin Blackmon || Oklahoma State || WR || Markelle Martin || Oklahoma State || S
|-
|2011 || Terrance Ganaway || Baylor || RB || Elliot Coffey || Baylor || LB
|-
|2012 || Marquise Goodwin || Texas || WR || Alex Okafor || Texas || DE
|-
|2013 || Marcus Mariota || Oregon || QB || Avery Patterson || Oregon || SS
|-
|2015 || Paul Perkins || UCLA || RB || Eric Kendricks || UCLA || LB
|-
|Jan. 2016 || Bram Kohlhausen || TCU || QB || Travin Howard || TCU || LB
|-
|Dec. 2016 || James Washington || Oklahoma State || WR || Vincent Taylor || Oklahoma State || DT
|-
|2017 || Kenny Hill || TCU || QB || Travin Howard || TCU || LB
|-
|2018 || Gardner Minshew || Washington State || QB || Peyton Pelluer || Washington State || LB
|-
|2019 || Sam Ehlinger || Texas || QB || Joseph Ossai || Texas || LB
|-
|2020 || Bijan Robinson || Texas || RB || DeMarvion Overshown || Texas || LB
|-
|2021 || Kennedy Brooks || Oklahoma || RB || Pat Fields || Oklahoma || S
|-
|2022 || Michael Penix Jr. || Washington || QB || Bralen Trice || Washington || DE
|-
|2023 || Jacob Cowing || Arizona || WR || Gunner Maldonado || Arizona || S
|-
|2024 || LJ Martin || BYU || RB || Isaiah Glasker || BYU || LB
|-
|2025 || Ken Seals || TCU || QB || Kaleb Elarms-Orr || TCU || LB
|}
Source:
Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award
The bowl's sportsmanship award is named after Fred Jacoby, who served as SWC commissioner from 1982 to 1993.
{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Year
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Player
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Team
!style="background:#FFB724; color:#AF2115; border: 2px solid #006986;"|Position
|-
|1993 || Larry Blue || Iowa || DT
|-
|1994 || Adrian Robinson || Baylor || DB
|-
|1995 || Jarrett Irons || Michigan || LB
|-
|1996 || Shane Dunn || Texas Tech || OT
|-
|1997 || Kevin Williams || Oklahoma State || DB
|-
|1998 || Jarrod Cooper || Kansas State || DB
|-
|1999 || Jason Webster || Texas A&M || CB
|-
|2000 || Zak Kustok || Northwestern || QB
|-
|2001 || Anton Paige || Texas Tech || WR
|-
|2002 || Zac Colvin || Colorado || QB
|-
|2003 || Joe Tate || Michigan State || OG
|-
|2004 || Donovan Woods || Oklahoma State || QB
|-
|2005 || Steve Breaston || Michigan || WR
|-
|2006 || Mike Elgin || Iowa || OL
|-
|2007 || Mark Dodge || Texas A&M || LB
|-
|2008 || Rasheed Ward|| Northwestern || WR
|-
|Jan. 2010 || Ross Weaver || Michigan State || DB
|-
|Dec. 2010 || David Douglas || Arizona || WR
|-
|2011 || Senio Kelemete || Washington || OG
|-
|2012 || Storm Woods || Oregon State || RB
|-
|2013 || Carrington Byndom || Texas || CB
|-
|2015 || Tyler Lockett || Kansas State || WR
|-
|Jan. 2016 || Rodney Hardrick || Oregon || LB
|-
|Dec. 2016 || Sean Irwin || Colorado || TE
|-
|2017 || Harrison Phillips || Stanford || DT
|-
|2018 || Marcel Spears Jr. || Iowa State || LB
|-
|2019 || Zack Moss || Utah || RB
|-
|2020 || Carson Wells || Colorado || LB
|-
|2021 || Alex Forsyth || Oregon || C
|-
|2022 || Anthony Cook || Texas || DB
|-
|2023 || Austin Stogner || Oklahoma || TE
|-
|2024 || || ||
|-
|2025 || || ||
|}
Source:
Media coverage
The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception. It has produced eight of the top 20 most-watched bowl games in ESPN history. In 2006, the Alamo Bowl featured the Texas Longhorns and the Iowa Hawkeyes in a game that earned a 6.0 rating, making it the most-watched college football game in ESPN history as more than 8.83 million viewers saw the telecast.