Scenes from the 1962 Bluebonnet Bowl

Houston football fans are likely familiar with the Texas Bowl that takes place at the Reliant (NRG) Stadium every year. Before the Texas Bowl, we had the short lived Houston Bowl from 2000 – 2005.

Younger Houstonians may think the buck stops there as the 2000 Texas Bowl was the first bowl to take place within Houston in 13 years. 13 years before the Texas Bowl’s premier, the Bluebonnet Bowl made its last appearance in December of 1987, ending a nigh 30-year reign.

For those unfamiliar with football (like myself), a “bowl” is a post-season college football game that is played annually between NCAA Division 1 teams.

The Bluebonnet Bowl was played in Houston from 1959 to 1987 and was a pretty huge deal among NCAA Division 1 teams. The games took place at Rice Stadium from 1959 – 1967, 1985 – 1986 and at the Astrodome from 1968 – 1984, 1987.

Below are a couple of photos from the December 1962 Bluebonnet Bowl between Georgia Tech (W) and University of Missouri. Both photos are of the Georgia team who took home the win at Houston’s Rice Stadium.