1980–81 NCAA football bowl games

Season

1980

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 13, 1980 –
January 2, 1981

National Championship

1981 Sugar Bowl

Location of Championship

Louisiana Superdome,
New Orleans, Louisiana

Champions

Georgia

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll

The 1980–81 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1980 and January 1981 to end the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. A total of 15 team-competitive games, and two all-star games, were played. The post-season began with the Independence Bowl on December 13, 1980, and concluded on January 17, 1981, with the season-ending Senior Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Game	Site	Television	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Dec. 13	Independence Bowl	State Fair Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana	Mizlou	Southern Miss Golden Eagles (8–3) McNeese State Cowboys (10–1)	Independent Southland	Southern Miss 16 McNeese State 14
Dec. 14	Garden State Bowl	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey	Mizlou	Houston Cougars (6–5) Navy Midshipmen (8–3)	Southwest Independent	Houston 35 Navy 0
Dec. 19	Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California	Mizlou	No. 14 BYU Cougars (11–1) No. 19 SMU Mustangs (8–3)	WAC Southwest	BYU 46 SMU 45
Dec. 20	Tangerine Bowl	Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida	Mizlou	Florida Gators (7–4) Maryland Terrapins (8–3)	SEC ACC	Florida 35 Maryland 20
Dec. 26	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	NBC	No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions (9–2) No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes (9–2)	Independent Big Ten	Penn State 31 Ohio State 19
Dec. 27	Hall of Fame Classic	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	Mizlou	Arkansas Razorbacks (6–5) Tulane Green Wave (7–4)	Southwest Independent	Arkansas 34 Tulane 15
	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas	CBS	No. 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9–2) No. 17 Mississippi State Bulldogs (9–2)	Big 8 SEC	Nebraska 31 Mississippi State 17
	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	ABC	No. 16 Purdue Boilermakers (8–3) Missouri Tigers (8–3)	Big Ten Big 8	Purdue 28 Missouri 25
Dec. 29	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	ABC	No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers (10–1) No. 18 South Carolina Gamecocks (8–3)	Independent Independent	Pittsburgh 37 South Carolina 9
Dec. 31	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Astrodome Houston, Texas	Mizlou	No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels (10–1) Texas Longhorns (7–4)	ACC Southwest	North Carolina 16 Texas 7
Jan. 1	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	CBS	No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide (9–2) No. 6 Baylor Bears (10–1)	SEC Southwest	Alabama 30 Baylor 2
	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	ABC	No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (11–0) No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9–1–1)	SEC Independent	Georgia 17 Notre Dame 10
	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	NBC	No. 5 Michigan Wolverines (9–2) No. 16 Washington Huskies (9–2)	Big Ten Pac 10	Michigan 23 Washington 6
	Orange Bowl	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, Florida	NBC	No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners (9–2) No. 2 Florida State Seminoles (10–1)	Big 8 Independent	Oklahoma 18 Florida State 17
Jan. 2	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, Georgia	CBS	No. 20 Miami Hurricanes (8–3) Virginia Tech Gobblers (8–3)	Independent Independent	Miami 20 Virginia Tech 10

Rankings from AP Poll

References

"1980 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
"All-Time Bowl-Game Results And Attendance" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved April 28, 2024.

v t e 1980–81 NCAA football bowl game season
Independence (Dec. 13) Garden State (Dec. 14) Holiday (Dec. 19) Tangerine (Dec. 20) Fiesta (Dec. 26) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 27) Sun (Dec. 27) Liberty (Dec. 27) Gator (Dec. 29) Astro-Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Peach (Jan. 2)

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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