Bowl Game Sponsors Quiz: How Well Do You Know Your Obscure Bowl History?

Think you're an expert at remembering old bowl game sponsorships? It's time to put that knowledge to the test.

The bowl season begins Saturday, which means you’re either going to complain about how there are too many bowls or watch the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl between Middle Tennessee and Appalachian State like every good, God-fearing American who loves football should. But even if you’re one of those saps who pines for a bygone era when all the good games ran simultaneously on the same day so you couldn’t watch them all, you can appreciate a good bowl sponsorship.

Today, we’re going to test your knowledge of the most important entities in the bowl system—the title sponsors. (Answers are below.)

1. What was the original name of the Cheez-It Bowl?

2. True or False: There was once a game called the Bacardi Bowl.

3. What computer operating system was once the title sponsor of the Fiesta Bowl?

4. Which brand of cologne once sponsored the Sun Bowl?

5. Name three sponsors of the Independence Bowl other than Poulan Weedeater.

6. What two cities have hosted a game called the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl?

7. Name the three manufacturers of military aircraft that have sponsored bowl games.

8. Which bowl has been sponsored by a chain of sports bars, by a cryptocurrency, and by a device that allowed people to use their computers to make phone calls?

9. Which bowl was once sponsored by a fried chicken chain but is now sponsored by an industrial park located in suburban Chicago?

10. What is the greatest bowl sponsorship of all time?

SINGLE: Ranking the Bowl Game Gifts of the 2018 Postseason

The Daily News, Austin Anthony/AP

Answer Key

1. The Copper Bowl.

2. True.

3. The Bacardi Bowl was played in Havana in the early 1900s. LSU, Mississippi A&M (now Mississippi State), Florida, Ole Miss, Auburn and Villanova played in it, usually against teams from Cuba. (Though Auburn and Villanova faced one another in 1937.)

3. IBM OS/2 sponsored the Fiesta Bowl in the early 1990s. The DOS replacement started as a joint venture between IBM and Microsoft until the “joint” part fell apart and Microsoft released the much more popular Windows 3.1. But we can always remember Ralphie charging across the field on Jan. 1, 1993 before Colorado’s 26-22 loss to Syracuse.

4. Brut.

Some guy at your high school—and probably your grandfather—doused himself in this stuff. The real question is whether Oregon State players celebrated their dramatic 39–38 win against Missouri in the 2006 game by dousing themselves in it.

5. Choose any three

Sanford (pens)

Mainstay (investment products)

Petrosun (energy)

AdvoCare (health supplements)

Duck Commander (duck calls/reality TV hijinks)

Camping World (RV store)

Walk-On’s (sports bar chain)

6. Tempe and Orlando

7. Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter have both sponsored the Armed Forces Bowl, and the Military Bowl is presented by Northrop Grumman.

8. The Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl has been sponsored by Beef O’Brady’s, by Bitcoin and by MagicJack.

9. The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl used to be sponsored by Popeye’s, but it’s now sponsored by Elk Grove Village, Ill., which is home to the largest industrial park in the country. The current arrangement seems odd. Wouldn’t images of the Bahamas make people want to be anywhere but an industrial park in suburban Chicago?

10. The Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl, of course.