The International Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 (NCAA) collegiate American football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 played in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 from 2007 through 2010. During its run, it was the only post-season bowl game played outside the United States, the first such game since the Bacardi Bowl

Bacardi Bowl

Bacardi Bowl was a college football bowl game played seven times in Havana, Cuba at La Tropical Stadium. Sometimes referred to as the Rhumba Bowl or the Cigar Bowl, the game was the climaxing event of Cuba’s annual National Sports Festival. The first five occurrences matched an American college...

, played in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 on January 1, 1937.

History

In 2004, a partnership led by the city of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 bid to host a bowl game in Toronto, to help the city recover from its loss of tourism dollars due to the 2003 SARS outbreak. The NCAA sanctioned the new Poinsettia Bowl

Poinsettia Bowl

The Poinsettia Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was created in 2005. The game was created by the organizers of the Holiday Bowl and is played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game is currently sponsored by the San Diego...

 in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, instead; Toronto re-launched its bid in 2005 and was successful, playing its first game at the end of the 2006 season.

The bowl signed agreements with two Division I conferences to provide teams: The Big East Conference

Big East Conference

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

, a BCS

Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...

 conference, and the Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

. Both conferences are composed of schools in the American Midwest

Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

 and Northeast

Northeastern United States

The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...

, with the exception of Big East school South Florida

South Florida Bulls football

The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...

. One Big East member, Cincinnati

Cincinnati Bearcats football

The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in a college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big East Conference. The Bearcat football program is one of the nation's oldest, having fielded a team as...

, is a former member of the MAC (conversely, the MAC currently has one former Big East member - Temple

Temple Owls football

The Temple Owls football team participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference...

).

The 2009 International Bowl

2009 International Bowl

The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football...

 was notable in that the Buffalo Bulls

Buffalo Bulls football

The Buffalo Bulls football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University at Buffalo located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is a member of the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo's first...

 (champions of the Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

) appeared in the first bowl game in the history of the school. The Bulls turned down their only other bowl invitation, the 1958 Tangerine Bowl

Tangerine Bowl

Multiple events were named Tangerine Bowl:*The Tangerine Bowl is the original name of the college football bowl game that is currently called the Capital One Bowl. It was known as the Tangerine Bowl from 1947 to 1982....

, as the black

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 players on the team were not going to be permitted to play.

After the bowl could not renew its contract with the BCS member Big East Conference, officials decided to cease the contest. It was hoped that the bowl could be revived later on, but the Big East's contract with the new Pinstripe Bowl complicated matters.

In all four editions of the International Bowl, the Big East representative defeated the MAC representative, with only the first game decided by fewer than 18 points.

Venue

The International Bowl was played at Rogers Centre

Rogers Centre

Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...

, home to the Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....

, the Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

's Toronto Argonauts

Toronto Argonauts

The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

, multiple Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...

 (CIS) Vanier Cup

Vanier Cup

The Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...

s (1989–2003, 2007), and the part-time home of the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 (2008–2012). It is also the first football game of significance to be played in Canada under American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 rules since Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...

's football team

Simon Fraser Clan

Simon Fraser Clan are the athletic teams that represent Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.SFU's teams formerly played in the United States National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for all sports. In 1997, Simon Fraser sought to join the U.S. NCAA as a Division II...

 left the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 in 2001, and joined CIS, where Canadian universities play under Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

 rules. (Simon Fraser later left CIS to join NCAA Division II.)

Trophy

The winner of the International Bowl was presented with a trophy similar in design to the International Bowl logo. A Canadian maple leaf formed the back of the trophy, with a small crystal football set offset to the right. The name of the winning team was placed on a plaque attached to the lower part of the trophy.

Game results

Date	| Winning team		| Losing team		Attendance
January 6, 2007 2007 International Bowl The 2007 International Bowl, held on January 6, 2007 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, was one of the college American football bowl games that ended the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game pitted the University of Cincinnati against Western Michigan University...		27		24	26,717
January 5, 2008 2008 International Bowl The 2008 International Bowl was played on January 5, 2008 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game featured the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University—who finished 5th in the Big East Conference—and the Cardinals of Ball State University—who finished co-champions...	Rutgers 2007 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team For the first time in the history of Rutgers football, the team entered a season ranked - 16th in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The Scarlet Knights finished the season with an 8-5 record that included a 52-30 victory over the Ball State Cardinals in the 2008 International Bowl...	52	Ball State 2007 Ball State Cardinals football team The 2007 Ball State Cardinals football team competed in football on behalf of the Ball State University during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season...	30	31,455
January 3, 2009 2009 International Bowl The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football...	Connecticut 2008 Connecticut Huskies football team The 2008 Connecticut Huskies football team represents the University of Connecticut in the 2008 college football season as a member of the Big East Conference...	38	Buffalo 2008 Buffalo Bulls football team The 2008 Buffalo Bulls football team represented the University at Buffalo in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. 2008 was a season of firsts for the Bulls. With a 40-34 double overtime win over Bowling Green on November 21, the Bulls won the MAC East division and gained a berth...	20	40,184
January 2, 2010 2010 International Bowl The 2010 International Bowl was the fourth and final edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game started at 12:00 PM US EST on Saturday, January 2, 2010. The game was telecast on ESPN2 and the South Florida Bulls defeated the...	South Florida 2009 South Florida Bulls football team The 2009 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida in the 2009 college football season. Their head coach was Jim Leavitt, and they played their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. The 2009 college football season was only the 13th season overall...	27	Northern Illinois 2009 Northern Illinois Huskies football team The 2009 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Northern Illinois competed as a member of the Mid-American Conference West Division. The team was coached by Jerry Kill and played their home games in...	3	22,185

MVPs

Date	MVP	School	Position
2007 2007 International Bowl The 2007 International Bowl, held on January 6, 2007 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, was one of the college American football bowl games that ended the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game pitted the University of Cincinnati against Western Michigan University...	Dominick Goodman Dominick Goodman Dominick Wendell Goodman is a American football wide receiver, who currently plays for the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League.-Early life:...		WR Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
2008 2008 International Bowl The 2008 International Bowl was played on January 5, 2008 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game featured the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University—who finished 5th in the Big East Conference—and the Cardinals of Ball State University—who finished co-champions...	Ray Rice Ray Rice Raymell Maurice Rice is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Ravens in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rutgers. He is currently ranked as the Baltimore Ravens third all-time rusher in...	Rutgers 2007 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team For the first time in the history of Rutgers football, the team entered a season ranked - 16th in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The Scarlet Knights finished the season with an 8-5 record that included a 52-30 victory over the Ball State Cardinals in the 2008 International Bowl...	RB Running back A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
2009 2009 International Bowl The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football...	Donald Brown Donald Brown (American football) Donald Eugene Brown II is an American football running back for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He was the starting running back for the University of Connecticut Huskies from 2006 to 2008.-High school career:Brown attended Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, New...	Connecticut 2008 Connecticut Huskies football team The 2008 Connecticut Huskies football team represents the University of Connecticut in the 2008 college football season as a member of the Big East Conference...	RB Running back A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
2010 2010 International Bowl The 2010 International Bowl was the fourth and final edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game started at 12:00 PM US EST on Saturday, January 2, 2010. The game was telecast on ESPN2 and the South Florida Bulls defeated the...	Mike Ford Mike Ford Mike Ford is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and a former member of Toronto band Moxy Früvous.-Solo career:In 2004 he released Stars Shone on Toronto, his first solo album. Canada Needs You, his second solo album, was released in 2005...	USF 2009 Connecticut Huskies football team The 2009 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2009 college football season as a member of the Big East Conference. The team was coached by Randy Edsall and played its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut...	RB Running back A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

Most appearances

Rank	Team	Appearances	Record
T1	Cincinnati Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Cincinnati. Since July 1, 2005, the school's athletic teams have been members of the Big East Conference....	1	1–0
T1	Connecticut Connecticut Huskies The Connecticut Huskies, also known as the UConn Huskies, are the athletic teams of the University of Connecticut in the United States. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference for all sports except Men's Ice Hockey and Women's Ice...	1	1–0
T1	Rutgers Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey...	1	1–0
T1	South Florida South Florida Bulls football The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...	1	1–0
T1	Ball State Ball State Cardinals Ball State University's athletic teams are called the Cardinals. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Mid-American Conference and located in Muncie, Indiana...	1	0–1
T1	Buffalo Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the athletic teams representing the University at Buffalo in intercollegiate athletics. The Bulls currently play in Division I , and are a member of the Mid-American Conference for all sports except women's rowing who is in the Cononial Athletic Assocition . They have been a...	1	0–1
T1	Northern Illinois Northern Illinois Huskies football The Northern Illinois Huskies football team represents Northern Illinois University in the Mid-American Conference of the NCAA's Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision.-History:...	1	0–1
T1	Western Michigan Western Michigan Broncos The Western Michigan Broncos are a NCAA Division I FBS team representing Western Michigan University. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's baseball, basketball, football, soccer and tennis; and women's basketball, cross-country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, track and field,...	1	0–1

Television

ESPN carried the International Bowl across its family of networks for the entirety of the bowl's history. Since the game was in Canada, the network chose to use its Canadian-born commentators or ones that had some connection to Canadian football. Toronto native John Saunders called the game for its first three playings, while CFL Hall of Famer Doug Flutie was a color commentator three times and Nepean, Ontario native Jesse Palmer was there for two of the games. With the exception of the inaugural playing, a Canadian served as the sideline reporter; Ontario natives Stacey Dales and David Amber were part of the festivities.

Date	Network	Play-by-play announcer	Color commentator Color commentator A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the... (s)	Sideline reporter Sideline reporter A sideline reporter, also known as a field reporter, courtside reporter , clubhouse reporter or dugout reporter , rinkside reporter or inside-the-glass reporter , on-court reporter , hole reporter , or boundary rider , is a member of the...
2010	ESPN2 ESPN College Football ESPN College Football is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, and ESPN Radio...	Mike Gleason Mike Gleason Mike Gleason is an ESPN anchor, who appears primarily on ESPNU and ESPN Classic. Before joining ESPN, Gleason worked for WBNS-AM in Columbus, Ohio, from 1994-96 as a show host and doing play-by-play. He also worked at WBNS-TV in Columbus from 1987-98 as an anchor and handling a variety of...	John Congemi John Congemi John Congemi is a former Canadian Football League quarterback and current college football analyst for ESPNU and the Big East Network.Congemi played quarterback for the Pittsburgh Panthers football team from 1982-1986. He finished second all time in passing yards and led his team to the 1984 Fiesta...	David Amber David Amber David Amber is a Canadian anchor for NHL On the Fly on the NHL Network as well as the anchor for Raptors Post Up on NBA TV Canada...
2009	ESPN2 ESPN College Football ESPN College Football is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, and ESPN Radio...	John Saunders	Doug Flutie Doug Flutie Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...  and Jesse Palmer Jesse Palmer Jesse James Palmer is a Canadian-born sports commentator and former college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for four seasons in the early 2000s...	David Amber David Amber David Amber is a Canadian anchor for NHL On the Fly on the NHL Network as well as the anchor for Raptors Post Up on NBA TV Canada...
2008	ESPN	John Saunders	Doug Flutie Doug Flutie Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...  and Jesse Palmer Jesse Palmer Jesse James Palmer is a Canadian-born sports commentator and former college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for four seasons in the early 2000s...	Stacey Dales Stacey Dales Stacey Dales, is a former Canadian basketball player and a current host on the NFL Network.-Basketball:...
2007	ESPN2	John Saunders	Craig James and Doug Flutie Doug Flutie Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...	Todd Harris Todd Harris Todd Harris is a play-by-play announcer for ESPNU college football coverage and Ultimate Fighting Championship airing on Versus.Prior to those duties, he was the lead play-by-play announcer for ABC and ESPN's coverage of the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series...