The Independence Bowl (some call it Advocare Bowl now) has quite a long history. Played first back in 1976, it is now one of the college football bowl games that sells out fast. Over the years the setup has changed. Since 1998 teams from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big 12 conference determined the winner of the bowl - assuming bowl-eligible teams were available in those conference.
Most recently the decision was made to feature the third highest ranked team from the MWC (Mountain West Conference) and the seventh highest ranked team from the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) starting in 2010 with Air Force playing Georgia Tech on December 27, 2010.
2010 Independence Bowl
The 2010 Bowl game was played on 12/27/2010 at 4pm local time (5pm EST), matching-up the Mountain West Conference Team Air Force Falcons (8-4) from the United States Air Force Academy and the ACC Team Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, representing the Georgia Institute of Technology . The game televised on ESPN2 saw Air Force as the winner with 14 to 7 over the Yellow Jackets.
2009 Independence Bowl
The 2009 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl was the 34th edition of the bowl, played on December 22nd, 2009 and won 44 for Georgia (in their 2nd appearance) over 20 for Texas A&M Aggies. It was Texas's 3rd time in the bowl. Last time they played was in 2000 in what most of us remember as the "Snow Bowl", when Shreveport received an unusual amount of snow on game day. That game ended with an overtime loss against Mississippi State (43-41).
Starting in 2009 the title sponsor is Advocare, which makes them the fifth title sponsor since the bowl's inception. The company is known for making energy drinks and nutritional supplements that are being sold through multilevel marketing (MLM). Advocare replaces the previous title sponsor PetroSun. Sponsors preceding PetroSun were AB Electrolux Home Products Poulan and Wee Eater, Sanford, and Mainstay Investments.
Since 1976 the Independence Bowl Stadium is the site of the annual bowl game. With a capacity of 53,000 (after a build-up from 40,000 in the late 1990s) there is plenty of room for lots of fans from the participating schools and the growing local fan base.
The stadium has seen professional football as well. They were the host of the pre-season home game for the Saints for the 2006-2007 season while the Louisiana Superdome was prepared for the season after the Saints had to temporarily move out-of-town due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
Buy your Bowl Ticket now before it is too late and be one of the tens of thousands enthusiastic fans in this great stadium.
Previous games included these line-ups:
2010: Air Force 14 - Georgia Tech 7
2009: Georgia 44 - Texas A&M 20
2008: Louisiana Tech 17 - Northern Illinois 10
2007: Alabama 30 - Colorado 24
2006: Oklahoma State 34 - Alabama 31
2005: Missouri 38 - South Carolina 31
2004: Iowa State 17 - Miami (Ohio) 13
2003: Arkansas 27 - Missouri 14
2002: Mississippi 27 - Nebraska 23
2001: Alabama 14 - Iowa State 13
Bowl Sponsors and Logos:
AdvoCare (2009 - present)
PetroSun (2006–2007)
MainStay Investments (2001–2003)
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