1978–79 NCAA football bowl games

Series of post-season NCAA football games

Season

1978

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 16, 1978 –
January 1, 1979

National Championship

1979 Sugar Bowl

Location of Championship

Louisiana Superdome,
New Orleans, Louisiana

Champions

Alabama

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll

The 1978–79 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1978 and January 1979 to end the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. A total of 15 team-competitive games were played. The post-season began with the Garden State Bowl on December 16, 1978, and concluded on January 1, 1979, with the Orange Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Game	Site	TV	Teams	Results
Dec. 16	Garden State Bowl	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey	Mizlou	Arizona State (8–3) Rutgers (9–2)	Arizona State 34 Rutgers 18
Dec. 16	Independence Bowl	State Fair Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana	WITN-TV	East Carolina (8–3) Louisiana Tech (6–4)	East Carolina 35 Louisiana Tech 13
Dec. 20	Hall of Fame Classic	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	Mizlou	Texas A&M (7–4) No. 19 Iowa State (8–3)	Texas A&M 28 Iowa State 12
Dec. 22	Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California	Mizlou	Navy (8–3) BYU (9–3)	Navy 23 BYU 16
Dec. 23	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas	CBS	No. 14 Texas (8–3) No. 13 Maryland (9–2)	Texas 42 Maryland 0
	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	ABC	No. 18 Missouri (7–4) LSU (8–3)	Missouri 20 LSU 15
	Tangerine Bowl	Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida	Mizlou	NC State (8–3) No. 16 Pittsburgh (8–3)	NC State 30 Pittsburgh 17
Dec. 25	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, Georgia	CBS	No. 17 Purdue (8–2–1) Georgia Tech (7–4)	Purdue 41 Georgia Tech 21
Dec. 25	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	NBC	No. 8 Arkansas (9–2) No. 15 UCLA (8–3)	Arkansas 10 UCLA 10
Dec. 29	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	ABC	No. 7 Clemson (10–1) No. 20 Ohio State (7–3–1)	Clemson 17 Ohio State 15
Dec. 31	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Astrodome Houston, Texas	Mizlou	Stanford (7–4) No. 11 Georgia (9–1–1)	Stanford 25 Georgia 22
Jan. 1	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	CBS	No. 10 Notre Dame (8–3) No. 9 Houston (9–2)	Notre Dame 35 Houston 34
	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	ABC	No. 2 Alabama (10–1) No. 1 Penn State (11–0)	Alabama 14 Penn State 7
	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	NBC	No. 3 USC (11–1) No. 5 Michigan (10–1)	USC 17 Michigan 10
	Orange Bowl	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, Florida	NBC	No. 4 Oklahoma (10–1) No. 6 Nebraska (9–2)	Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 24

Rankings from AP Poll

References

"All-Time Bowl-Game Results And Attendance" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
"1978 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 31, 2024.

v t e 1978–79 NCAA football bowl game season
Garden State (Dec. 16) Independence (Dec. 16) 1978 Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 20) Holiday (Dec. 22) Sun (Dec. 23) Liberty (Dec. 23) Tangerine (Dec. 23) Peach (Dec. 25) Fiesta (Dec. 25) Gator (Dec. 29) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Sugar (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Rose (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
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

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