Camellia Bowl (1961–1980)
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox college football bowl game The Camellia Bowl was an annual college football postseason game in Sacramento, California, which is nicknamed the Camellia City. It was held sixteen times at Hughes Stadium, from 1961 through 1975, and once more in 1980.
History
The Camellia Bowl was founded in March 1961, when the Sacramento City-County Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to accept an offer from the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to move its championship game to the city. For the previous four years, the game had been known as the Holiday Bowl and was played in Saint Petersburg, Florida.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Camellia Bowl served as the NAIA Football National Championship game for three years.
After the transition from NAIA to NCAA affiliation, announced in January 1964,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the game became one of four regional finals in the NCAA College Division. At the time, there were no playoffs at any level of NCAA football. For the smaller colleges and universities, as for the major programs, the national champion was determined by polls conducted by the leading news wire services. The intent of the bowl was to match the two best non-major teams from a region consisting of the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain states. The other three regional finals were the Tangerine (later Boardwalk), Pecan (later Pioneer), and Grantland Rice bowls.
When the College Division was subdivided into the current Division II and Division III in 1973, the NCAA made the Camellia Bowl the Division II football championship game. It served in this capacity for three seasons (1973 to 1975). After a four-year hiatus, the bowl returned in 1980 as the title game for NCAA Division I-AA (today's FCS).<ref name=bsbctt>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=spchbgti>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sacramento's Camellia Bowl Association signed a two-year deal to host the Division I-AA championship, but after the 1980 game drew just 8,157 fans and lost $21,659, game organizers appealed to the NCAA to cancel the contract.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The NCAA agreed, and the I-AA title game was moved to the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas, for 1981.
Game results
| Date | Winning team | Losing team | Playoff | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DecemberTemplate:Spaces9, 1961 | Pittsburg State | 12 | Linfield | 7 | NAIA Championship | <ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref> |
| DecemberTemplate:Spaces8, 1962 | Central State (OK) | 28 | Template:Cfb link | 13 | ||
| December 14, 1963 | Saint John's (MN) | 33 | Prairie View A&M | 27 | ||
| December 12, 1964 | Montana State | 29 | Sacramento State | 7 | NCAA College Division Regional Final |
<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| December 11, 1965 | Cal State Los Angeles | 18 | UC Santa Barbara | 10 | <ref>[2] Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| December 10, 1966 | San Diego State | 28 | Montana State | 7 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| DecemberTemplate:Spaces9, 1967 | San Diego State | 34 | San Francisco State | 6 | ||
| December 14, 1968 | Humboldt State | 29 | Fresno State | 14 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| December 13, 1969 | North Dakota State | 30 | Montana | 3 | <ref name=bsddrp>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| December 12, 1970 | North Dakota State | 31 | Montana | 16 | <ref name=blbsin>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| December 11, 1971 | Boise State | 32 | Chico State | 28 | <ref name=bscsfs>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="scout1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| December 10, 1972 | North Dakota | 38 | Cal Poly | 21 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| December 15, 1973 | Louisiana Tech | 34 | Western Kentucky | 0 | Division II Championship | <ref>The Fresno Bee, Dec 16, 1973, page D10</ref> |
| December 14, 1974 | Central Michigan | 54 | Delaware | 14 | <ref>The Modesto Bee, Dec 15, 1974, page A19</ref> | |
| December 13, 1975 | Northern Michigan | 16 | Western Kentucky | 14 | <ref>The Modesto Bee, Dec 14, 1975, page B1</ref> | |
| December 20, 1980 | Boise State | 31 | Eastern Kentucky | 29 | Division I-AA Championship | <ref name=bsbctt/><ref name=spchbgti/><ref name="scout1"/> |