2005 Armed Forces Bowl

Congratulations to all the participants in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl, and especially to the Kansas Jayhawks for their 42-13 victory over the Houston Cougars!

The Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl is held each year at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas just before Christmas. Before the game is played in late December, there are a number of gala events such as a trip to the historic Metroplex night club, Billy Bob's, and a pep rally in the famous Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. Teams and fans alike attend these events, and you never know what rowdy times might erupt in the city 'Where the West Begins.'

Teams from the Big 12 and Conference USA will be competing in the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl. This year's competition will feature the Houston Cougars of Conference USA vs. the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12. In 2003, at the first Fort Worth Bowl, the Boise State Broncos took the prize against Texas Christian University (TCU). All the tickets to that game were hot sellers, and Ryan Dinwiddie, the Boise quarterback, was the MVP of the game. In 2004 the Cincinnati Bearcats won out over the Thundering Herd of Marshall University (West Virginia), with Gino Guidugli, quarterback, taking Marshall to the cleaners with his unstoppable arm. Starting in 2006, one of participants will hail from the Mountain West Conference while their opponent will represent Conference USA or the Pacific 10.

The first Bowl game in Fort Worth was not in 2003, however. The Fort Worth Classic was held New Year's Day 1921 between TCU and the Centre College (Kentucky) Praying Colonels. Centre won the game 63 - 7. Later Fort Worth was host to the Cattle Bowl in the 1940s, while the neighboring city of Dallas had begun hosting the Cotton Bowl. The tradition returned to Cowtown in the new century when the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl was born.

Amon G. Carter Stadium seats 44,000 and was named for a Fort Worth publisher and philanthropist. It is a natural grass surface and was built in 1929. It is usually the home of the TCU Horned Frogs, except one day a year when it hosts the Fort Worth Bowl.

Fort Worth is, by Texas reckoning, right next door to Dallas, where the Cowboys, Mavericks and Stars play and where the Cotton Bowl is held. The Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl may be young but it is still a part of what makes college ball so unique. If you love college football, you will love the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl.