View source for California Bowl

{{Short description|American college football bowl game}}
{{redirect|California Raisin Bowl|similarly named college football bowl game|Raisin Bowl}}

{{Collegebowl
| name               = California Bowl
| full_name          = California Raisin Bowl
| nickname           = 
| defunct            = yes
| logo               =
| image_size         =
| caption            = 
| stadium            = [[Valley Children's Stadium|Bulldog Stadium]]
| previous_stadiums  = 
| location           = [[Fresno, California]]
| previous_locations = 
| years              = 1981–1991
| previous_tie-ins   = 
| conference_tie-ins = [[Big West Conference|PCAA/Big West]], [[Mid-American Conference|MAC]]
| payout             = 
| sponsors           = [[California Raisin Advisory Board]] (1988–1991) 
| former_names       = 
| prev_matchup_year  = 
| prev_matchup_season= 
| prev_matchup_teams = 
| prev_matchup_score = 
| next_matchup_year  = 
| next_matchup_season= 
| next_matchup_teams = 
| next_matchup_date  =
}}

The '''California Bowl''' (later the '''California Raisin Bowl''') was a post-season [[college football]] bowl game played annually at [[Valley Children's Stadium|Bulldog Stadium]] in [[Fresno, California]], from 1981 to 1991.<ref>Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997. Page A1.</ref> The game featured the champions of the [[Big West Conference]] (known prior to 1988 as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association) and the [[Mid-American Conference]].

In 1988, the [[California Raisin Advisory Board]] purchased the naming rights to the bowl.

The game was dealt a severe blow in 1992 when Fresno State moved to the [[Western Athletic Conference]]. The MAC and Big West then moved their tie-ins to [[Las Vegas, Nevada]] and created the [[Las Vegas Bowl]]. The California Bowl made plans to hold the 1992 game without tie-ins, but was unable to find a new sponsor. When organizers came up short of a $1.75 million fundraising goal, the NCAA pulled the bowl's certification. It has never returned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-05-sp-4944-story.html|title = Archives|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101220040130/http://espn.go.com/ncf/topics/_/page/las-vegas-bowl] "history"</ref>

==Game results==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date played
! colspan="2" | Winning team
! colspan="2" | Losing team
! Notes
|-
| December 19, 1981 || '''[[1981 Toledo Rockets football team|Toledo]]''' || '''27'''  || No. 20 [[1981 San Jose State Spartans football team|San Jose State]] || 25 || [[1981 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 18, 1982 || '''[[1982 Fresno State Bulldogs football team|Fresno State]]''' || '''29''' || [[1982 Bowling Green Falcons football team|Bowling Green]] || 28 || [[1982 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 17, 1983 || '''[[1983 Northern Illinois Huskies football team|Northern Illinois]]''' || '''20''' || [[1983 Cal State Fullerton Titans football team|Cal State Fullerton]] || 13 || [[1983 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 15, 1984 || '''[[1984 Toledo Rockets football team|Toledo]]''' *  || '''13''' || [[1984 UNLV Rebels football team|UNLV]] || 30 || [[1984 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 14, 1985 || '''No. 18 [[1985 Fresno State Bulldogs football team|Fresno State]]''' || '''51''' || No. 20 [[1985 Bowling Green Falcons football team|Bowling Green]] || 7 || [[1985 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 13, 1986 || '''No. 19 [[1986 San Jose State Spartans football team|San Jose State]]''' || '''37''' || [[1986 Miami RedHawks football team|Miami (OH)]] || 7 || [[1986 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 12, 1987 || '''[[1987 Eastern Michigan Hurons football team|Eastern Michigan]]''' || '''30''' || [[1987 San Jose State Spartans football team|San Jose State]] || 27 ||  [[1987 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 10, 1988 || '''[[1988 Fresno State Bulldogs football team|Fresno State]]''' || '''35''' || [[1988 Western Michigan Broncos football team|Western Michigan]] || 30 || [[1988 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 9, 1989 || '''[[1989 Fresno State Bulldogs football team|Fresno State]]''' || '''27''' || [[1989 Ball State Cardinals football team|Ball State]] || 6 || [[1989 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 8, 1990 || '''No. 25 [[1990 San Jose State Spartans football team|San Jose State]]''' || '''48''' || [[1990 Central Michigan Chippewas football team|Central Michigan]] || 24  || [[1990 California Bowl|notes]]
|-
| December 14, 1991 || '''[[1991 Bowling Green Falcons football team|Bowling Green]]''' || '''28''' || [[1991 Fresno State Bulldogs football team|Fresno State]] || 21 || [[1991 California Bowl|notes]]
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> ''UNLV won this game, but subsequently forfeited its entire schedule due to the use of ineligible players earlier in the season.''

==MVPs==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Season
!MVP
!Team
!Position
|-
|1981
|
|
|
|-
|1982
|[[Jeff Tedford]]
|
|QB
|-
|1983
|Lou Wicks
|
|FB
|-
|1984
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|Mike Mancini
|
|P
|-
| rowspan="2" |1986
|[[Mike Perez (American football)|Mike Perez]]
|
|QB
|-
|Andy Marlatt
|
|
|-
|1987
|Gary Patton
|
|RB
|-
|1988
|Darrell Rosette
|
|RB
|-
|1989
|[[Ron Cox (American football)|Ron Cox]]
|
|LB
|-
|1990
|
|
|
|-
|1991
|
|
|
|}

== Appearances by team ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Rank
!Team
!Appearances
!Record
!Win %
|-
|1
| style={{NCAA color cell|Fresno State Bulldogs}}|[[Fresno State Bulldogs football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Fresno State]]}}
|5
|4–1
|.800
|-
|2
| style={{NCAA color cell|San Jose State Spartans}}|[[San Jose State Spartans football|{{color|#FFFFFF|San Jose State]]}}
|4
|2–2
|.500
|-
|3
| style={{NCAA color cell|Bowling Green Falcons}}|[[Bowling Green Falcons football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Bowling Green]]}}
|3
|1–2
|.333
|-
|4
| style={{NCAA color cell|Toledo Rockets}}|[[Toledo Rockets football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Toledo]]}}
|2
|2–0
|1.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Eastern Michigan Eagles}}|[[Eastern Michigan Eagles football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Eastern Michigan]]}}
|1
|1–0
|1.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Northern Illinois Huskies}}|[[Northern Illinois Huskies football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Northern Illinois]]}}
|1
|1–0
|1.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Ball State Cardinals}}|[[Ball State Cardinals football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Ball State]]}}
|1
|0–1
|.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Cal State Fullerton Titans}}|[[Cal State Fullerton Titans football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Cal State Fullerton]]}}
|1
|0–1
|.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Central Michigan Chippewas}}|[[Central Michigan Chippewas football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Central Michigan]]}}
|1
|0–1
|.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Miami RedHawks}}|[[Miami RedHawks football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Miami (OH)]]}}
|1
|0–1
|.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|UNLV Rebels}}|[[UNLV Rebels football|{{color|#FFFFFF|UNLV]]}}
|1
|0–1
|.000
|-
|T5
| style={{NCAA color cell|Western Michigan Broncos}}|[[Western Michigan Broncos football|{{color|#FFFFFF|Western Michigan]]}}
|1
|0–1
|.000
|}

== Appearances by conference ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Rank
!Conference
!Appearances
!Record
!Win %
!# of Teams
!Teams
|-
|T1
|Big West
|11
|6–5
|.545
|4
|Fresno State (4–1)<br />
San Jose State (2–2)<br />
Cal State Fullerton (0–1)<br />
UNLV (0–1)
|-
|T1
|MAC
|11
|5–6
|.455
|8
|Bowling Green (1–2)
Toledo (2–0)<br />Eastern Michigan (1–0)<br />
Northern Illinois (1–0)<br />
Ball State (0–1)<br />
Central Michigan (0–1)<br />
Miami (OH) (0–1)<br />
Western Michigan (0–1)
|}

==See also==
*[[List of college bowl games]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{California Bowl navbox}}

[[Category:California Bowl| ]]
[[Category:Defunct college football bowls]]