I’ve done a little research on a factoid I find interesting: TU has now played in at least one major college bowl game in nine consecutive decades (i.e., 1940’s thru 2020’s).
I looked at the bowl records of all the FBS schools using these great web sites: mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Bowl games : All time and School Index | College Football at Sports-Reference.com (sports-reference.com). I found that only 13 college programs can claim longer such active streaks than TU, and another seven match ours (I gave all programs that have not yet played in a 2020’s bowl game the benefit of the doubt). All of the other programs with streaks as long or longer than TU’s are in Power 5 conferences. Among our AAC mates, Houston and Navy have the next longest streaks having played in bowl games in eight consecutive decades (assuming Navy makes an appearance in the 20’s).
Here is my compilation:
11 consecutive decades (1920’s through 2020’s)
Alabama
Georgia Tech
Missouri (includes the 1924 Los Angeles Christmas Festival game, and assumes the Orange Bowl played on 1/1/40 is a 1939 game; Missouri played in no other bowl games in the 1920’s or 1930’s).
Texas A&M
USC
Washington (assumes the Rose Bowl played on 1/1/60 was a 1959 game; Washington played in no other bowl games in the 1950’s).
West Virginia
10 consecutive decades (1930’s through 2020’s)
Arkansas
LSU
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Tennessee
Texas Tech
Nine consecutive decades (1940’s through 2020’s)
TULSA
Georgia
Michigan
Nebraska
Ohio State
Penn State
Texas
UCLA
(North Carolina would be in the list of nine consecutive decades if the Cotton Bowl played on 1/2/50 is assumed to be a 1950 game; North Carolina played in no other bowl games in the 1950’s).
Of course many other programs have more illustrious bowl histories than TU, and the vagaries of bowl selections over the years has left many deserving teams home during bowl season (e.g., only one team from a conference being bowl-eligible, Notre Dame and the academies refusing to play in bowl games, etc.). Nevertheless, I feel this statistic speaks well of the sustained strength and determination of our program, especially considering our status as the smallest FBS school.
Go TU!
I looked at the bowl records of all the FBS schools using these great web sites: mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Bowl games : All time and School Index | College Football at Sports-Reference.com (sports-reference.com). I found that only 13 college programs can claim longer such active streaks than TU, and another seven match ours (I gave all programs that have not yet played in a 2020’s bowl game the benefit of the doubt). All of the other programs with streaks as long or longer than TU’s are in Power 5 conferences. Among our AAC mates, Houston and Navy have the next longest streaks having played in bowl games in eight consecutive decades (assuming Navy makes an appearance in the 20’s).
Here is my compilation:
11 consecutive decades (1920’s through 2020’s)
Alabama
Georgia Tech
Missouri (includes the 1924 Los Angeles Christmas Festival game, and assumes the Orange Bowl played on 1/1/40 is a 1939 game; Missouri played in no other bowl games in the 1920’s or 1930’s).
Texas A&M
USC
Washington (assumes the Rose Bowl played on 1/1/60 was a 1959 game; Washington played in no other bowl games in the 1950’s).
West Virginia
10 consecutive decades (1930’s through 2020’s)
Arkansas
LSU
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Tennessee
Texas Tech
Nine consecutive decades (1940’s through 2020’s)
TULSA
Georgia
Michigan
Nebraska
Ohio State
Penn State
Texas
UCLA
(North Carolina would be in the list of nine consecutive decades if the Cotton Bowl played on 1/2/50 is assumed to be a 1950 game; North Carolina played in no other bowl games in the 1950’s).
Of course many other programs have more illustrious bowl histories than TU, and the vagaries of bowl selections over the years has left many deserving teams home during bowl season (e.g., only one team from a conference being bowl-eligible, Notre Dame and the academies refusing to play in bowl games, etc.). Nevertheless, I feel this statistic speaks well of the sustained strength and determination of our program, especially considering our status as the smallest FBS school.
Go TU!
