1958–59 NCAA football bowl games

Season

1958

Number of bowls

All-star games

Blue–Gray Football Classic
East–West Shrine Game
North–South Shrine Game
Senior Bowl

Bowl games

December 13, 1958 –
January 1, 1959

Champions

Iowa Hawkeyes (FWAA)
LSU Tigers (AP, Coaches)

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
Independents	4	1–2–1 (0.375)	6
SEC	3	2–1 (0.667)	3
Big Ten	1	1–0 (1.000)	4
Big Seven	1	1–0 (1.000)	1
Lone Star	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
Mountain States	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
SWC	1	0–0–1 (0.500)	2
ACC	1	0–1 (0.000)	2
PCC	1	0–1 (0.000)	1
MCAU	1	0–1 (0.000)	0
Border	1	0–1 (0.000)	0

The 1958–59 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1958 and January 1959 to end the 1958 college football season. A total of eight team-competitive games, and four all-star games, were played. The post-season began with the Bluegrass Bowl on December 13, 1958, and concluded on January 3, 1959, with the season-ending Senior Bowl all-star game.

Schedule

The following table lists bowl games involving University Division teams; bowl games at lower levels are listed in the See also section.

The eight team-competitive bowls consisted of the seven played the prior season plus the first (and only) edition of the Bluegrass Bowl.

Notably, Tangerine Bowl organizers initially invited the University at Buffalo, hoping that the Orlando High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), which operated the Tangerine Bowl stadium, would waive its rule that prohibited integrated sporting events. When it refused, the team unanimously voted to skip the bowl because its two black players (halfback Willie Evans and end Mike Wilson) would not have been allowed on the field.

Date	Game	Site	Time (US EST)	TV	Matchup (pre-game record)	AP pre-game rank	UPI (Coaches) pre-game rank
12/13	Bluegrass Bowl	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	2:00 p.m.	ABC	Oklahoma State 15 (7–3) (Independent), Florida State 6 (7–3) (Independent)	#19 NR	NR NR
12/27	Tangerine Bowl	Tangerine Bowl (stadium) Orlando, Florida	2:30 p.m.	—	East Texas State 26 (9–1) (Lone Star), Missouri Valley 7 (8–0) (MCAU)	n/a	n/a
12/27	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	2:00 p.m.	CBS	Ole Miss 7 (8–2) (SEC), Florida 3 (6–3–1) (SEC)	#11 #14	#12 #15
12/31	Sun Bowl	Kidd Field El Paso, Texas	4:00 p.m.	—	Wyoming 14 (7–3) (Mountain States), Hardin–Simmons 6 (6–4) (Border†)	NR NR	NR NR
1/1	Orange Bowl	Burdine Stadium Miami, Florida	1:00 p.m.	CBS	Oklahoma 21 (9–1) (Big Seven†), Syracuse 6 (8–1) (Independent)	#5 #9	#5 #10
1/1	Sugar Bowl	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana	2:00 p.m.	NBC	LSU 7 (10–0) (SEC†), Clemson 0 (8–2) (ACC†)	#1 #12	#1 #13
1/1	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	3:30 p.m.	CBS	TCU 0 (8–2) (SWC†), Air Force 0 (9–0–1) (Independent)	#10 #6	#9 #8
1/1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	5:00 p.m.	NBC	Iowa 38 (7–1–1) (Big Ten†), California 12 (7–3) (PCC†)	#2 #16	#2 #16

† denotes conference champion
Source:

Notes

Excludes all-star games.
Teams in this seasons's Tangerine Bowl were not from the University Division, but the bowl is included due to its history with such teams.

References

"1958 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
"Race Bias Makes Lemon Of Tangerine Bowl Bid". New York Age. New York City. December 6, 1958. p. 33. Retrieved March 3, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
"East Texas State in Tangerine Bowl". The Gazette and Daily. York, Pennsylvania. AP. December 2, 1958. p. 18. Retrieved March 12, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
"Bowl Season Swings Into High Gear". The Roanoke Times. December 13, 1958. p. 9. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
"East Texas State Favored In Bowl Clash". Orlando Evening Star. December 26, 1958. p. 14. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
"5 Bowl Games Today Figure To Be Thrillers". St. Petersburg Times. AP. December 27, 1958. p. 1-C. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Bowl Game Schedule". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. December 31, 1958. p. 17. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
MacCambridge, Michael, ed. (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. New York, N.Y.: ESPN Books. p. 1252. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.

v t e 1958–59 NCAA football bowl game season
Bluegrass (Dec. 13) Tangerine (Dec. 27) Gator (Dec. 27) Sun (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1)

v t e NCAA football bowl seasons
1901–02 1902–14 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

NCAA football bowl seasons

1901–02
1902–14
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
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2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
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2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

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