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For the stadium, see Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
The AutoZone Liberty Bowl is an annual college football game played in December of each year since 1959. The bowl game was played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at John F. Kennedy Stadium (see Municipal Stadium) until 1963. Initially, the game, the only cold-weather bowl game of its time, was plagued by poor attendance (the 1963 game drew only 8,309 spectators), so the 1964 game was the first bowl game ever played indoors in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Convention Hall on a shortened field before 6,059 fans.
Since 1965, the game has made its home in Memphis, Tennessee in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to much larger crowds and has established itself as one of the oldest non-BCS bowls. Since 1997, the regular season champion of Conference USA has served as the host team. From 1998 to 2003, the opponent for the C-USA champion was the Mountain West champion. However, in 2004 one of the berths went to WAC winner, Boise State (Utah, which had won the Mountain West, actually qualified for a BCS berth and was unavailable) and in 2005, an at-large team-in this case, the WAC's Fresno State- was chosen (Utah, who had won the Mountain West again, instead chose to play in the Emerald Bowl). Beginning with the 2006 football season, the game will match teams from Conference USA and the Southeastern Conference. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003. Since 2004, the game has been sponsored by auto parts retailer AutoZone, and is now called the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl.
[edit] Previous Results
| Date Played | Winning Team | Losing Team
|
| December 19, 1959 | Penn State | 7 | Alabama | 0
|
| December 20, 1960 | Penn State | 41 | Oregon | 12
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| December 16, 1961 | Syracuse | 15 | Miami | 14
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| December 15, 1962 | Oregon State | 6 | Villanova | 0
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| December 21, 1963 | Mississippi State | 16 | North Carolina State | 12
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| December 19, 1964 | Utah | 32 | West Virginia | 6
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| December 18, 1965 | Mississippi | 13 | Auburn | 7
|
| December 10, 1966 | Miami | 14 | Virginia Tech | 7
|
| December 16, 1967 | NC State | 14 | Georgia | 7
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| December 14, 1968 | Mississippi | 34 | Virginia Tech | 17
|
| December 13, 1969 | Colorado | 47 | Alabama | 33
|
| December 12, 1970 | Tulane | 17 | Colorado | 3
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| December 20, 1971 | Tennessee | 14 | Arkansas | 13
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| December 18, 1972 | Georgia Tech | 31 | Iowa State | 30
|
| December 17, 1973 | North Carolina State | 31 | Kansas | 18
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| December 16, 1974 | Tennessee | 7 | Maryland | 3
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| December 22, 1975 | Southern California | 20 | Texas A&M | 0
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| December 20, 1976 | Alabama | 36 | UCLA | 6
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| December 19, 1977 | Nebraska | 21 | North Carolina | 17
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| December 23, 1978 | Missouri | 20 | LSU | 15
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| December 22, 1979 | Penn State | 9 | Tulane | 6
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| December 27, 1980 | Purdue | 28 | Missouri | 25
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| December 30, 1981 | Ohio State | 31 | Navy | 28
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| December 29, 1982 | Alabama | 21 | Illinois | 15
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| December 29, 1983 | Notre Dame | 19 | Boston College | 18
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| December 27, 1984 | Auburn | 21 | Arkansas | 15
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| December 27, 1985 | Baylor | 21 | LSU | 7
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| December 29, 1986 | Tennessee | 21 | Minnesota | 14
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| December 29, 1987 | Georgia | 20 | Arkansas | 17
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| December 28, 1988 | Indiana | 34 | South Carolina | 10
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| December 29, 1989 | Mississippi | 42 | Air Force | 29
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| December 27, 1990 | Air Force | 23 | Ohio State | 11
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| December 29, 1991 | Air Force | 38 | Mississippi State | 15
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| December 31, 1992 | Mississippi | 13 | Air Force | 0
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| December 28, 1993 | Louisville | 18 | Michigan State | 7
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| December 31, 1994 | Illinois | 30 | East Carolina | 0
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| December 30, 1995 | East Carolina | 19 | Stanford | 13
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| December 27, 1996 | Syracuse | 30 | Houston | 17
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| December 31, 1997 | Southern Mississippi | 41 | Pittsburgh | 7
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| December 31, 1998 | Tulane | 41 | Brigham Young | 27
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| December 31, 1999 | Southern Mississippi | 23 | Colorado State | 17
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| December 29, 2000 | Colorado State | 22 | Louisville | 17
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| December 31, 2001 | Louisville | 28 | Brigham Young | 10
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| December 31, 2002 | Texas Christian | 25 | Colorado State | 3
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| December 31, 2003 | Utah | 17 | Southern Mississippi | 0
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| December 31, 2004 1 | Louisville | 44 | Boise State | 40
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| December 31, 2005 | Tulsa | 31 | Fresno State | 24
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| December 29, 2006 | South Carolina | 44 | Houston | 36
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| December 29, 2007 | Mississippi State | 10 | Central Florida | 7
|
| January 2, 2009 | Kentucky | 25 | East Carolina | 19
|
1 — Mountain West champion Utah was released from their contractual obligation to the Liberty Bowl after earning a Bowl Championship Series berth in 2004. WAC champion Boise State took Utah's spot.
[edit] Past Bowl Logos
