1984–85 NCAA football bowl games

Season

1984

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 15, 1984 –
January 1, 1985

National Championship

1984 Holiday Bowl

Location of Championship

Jack Murphy Stadium,
San Diego

Champions

BYU Cougars

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
Independents	7	3–3–1 (0.500)	4
SEC	6	2–3–1 (0.417)	4
Big Ten	6	1–5 (0.167)	2
SWC	5	1–4 (0.200)	1
Pac-10	3	3–0 (1.000)	3
Big Eight	3	2–1 (0.667)	3
ACC	2	2–0 (1.000)	2
WAC	2	2–0 (1.000)	1
PCAA	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
MAC	1	0–1 (0.000)	0

The 1984–85 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1984 and January 1985 to end the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. A total of 18 team-competitive games, and two all-star games, were played. The post-season began with the Independence Bowl on December 15, 1984, and concluded on January 12, 1985, with the season-ending Senior Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Game	Site	Time (US EST)	TV	Matchup (pre-game record)	AP pre-game rank	UPI (Coaches) pre-game rank
Dec 15	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana		ESPN	Air Force 23 (7–4) (WAC), Virginia Tech 7 (8–3) (Independent)	NR NR	NR NR
Dec 15	California Bowl	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, California		ESPN	UNLV 30 (10–2) (PCAA Champion), Toledo 13 (8–2–1) (MAC Champion)	NR NR	NR NR
Dec 21	Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California		Mizlou / ESPN	BYU 24 (12–0) (WAC Champion), Michigan 17 (6–5) (Big Ten)	#1 NR	#1 NR
Dec 22	Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida		NBC	Georgia 17 (7–4) (SEC), Florida State 17 (7–3–1) (Independent)	NR #15	NR #16
	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas		CBS	Maryland 28 (8–3) (ACC Champion), Tennessee 27 (7–3–1) (SEC)	#12 NR	#11 NR
	Cherry Bowl	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Michigan		USA Network	Army 10 (8–3) (Independent), Michigan State 6 (6–5) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
Dec 26	Freedom Bowl	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California		Lorimar	Iowa 55 (7–4–1) (Big Ten), Texas 17 (7–3–1) (SWC)	NR #19	NR #20
Dec 27	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee		Katz Sports	Auburn 21 (8–4) (SEC), Arkansas 15 (7–3–1) (SWC)	#16 NR	#19 NR
Dec 28	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida		ABC	Oklahoma State 21 (9–2) (Big Eight), South Carolina 14 (10–1) (Independent)	#9 #7	#9 #7
Dec 29	Aloha Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii	8:00 pm	TCS/Metrosports	SMU 27 (9–2) (SWC co-Champion), Notre Dame 20 (7–4) (Independent)	#10 #17	#10 #18
Dec 29	Hall of Fame Classic	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	8:00 PM	WTBS	Kentucky 20 (8–3) (SEC), Wisconsin 19 (7–3–1) (Big Ten)	NR #20	NR #17
Dec 31	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta	3:00 PM	CBS	Virginia 27 (7–2–2) (ACC), Purdue 24 (7–4) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
Dec 31	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Houston Astrodome Houston, Texas	8:00 PM	Lorimar	West Virginia 31 (7–4) (Independent), TCU 14 (8–3) (SWC)	NR NR	NR NR
Jan 1	Cotton Bowl	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	1:30 PM	CBS	Boston College 45 (9–2) (Independent), Houston 28 (7–4) (SWC co-Champion)	#8 NR	#8 NR
	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	1:30 PM	NBC	UCLA 39 (8–3) (Pac-10), Miami (FL) 37 (8–4) (Independent)	#14 #13	#15 #13
	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	4:30 PM	NBC	USC 20 (8–3) (Pac-10 Champion), Ohio State 17 (9–2) (Big Ten Champion)	#18 #6	#14 #5
	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	7:00 PM	ABC	Nebraska 28 (9–2) (Big Eight co-Champion), LSU 10 (8–2–1) (SEC)	#5 #11	#4 #12
	Orange Bowl	Orange Bowl Miami, Florida	8:00 PM	NBC	Washington 25 (10–1) (Pac-10), Oklahoma 17 (9–1–1) (Big Eight co-Champion)	#4 #2	#3 #2

References

"1984 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"Hobbling Bosco Lifts No. 1 BYU to 13-0 Season". The Washington Post. December 22, 1984. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"Long Sets Records As Iowa Triumphs". The New York Times. December 27, 1984. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"OKLAHOMA ST. RALLY WINS GATOR BOWL". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"FLUTIE PASSES FOR 3 SCORES AS BOSTON COLLEGE WINS". The New York Times. January 2, 1985. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
Reilly, Rick (January 2, 1985). "When the Dust Settles, UCLA Is on Top : Bruins Win Fiesta Bowl Shoot-Out Against Kosar and Hurricanes, 39-37". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"ROSE BOWL : Analysis : First, USC Stopped Byars, Then It Went to Work on the Pass". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1985. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"NEBRASKA RALLIES TO DOWN L.S.U., 28-10". The New York Times. January 2, 1985. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"WASHINGTON RALLIES TO OVERCOME OKLAHOMA". The New York Times. January 2, 1985. Retrieved December 22, 2018.

v t e 1984–85 NCAA football bowl game season
Independence (Dec. 15) California (Dec. 15) Holiday (Dec. 21) Florida Citrus (Dec. 22) Sun (Dec. 22) Cherry (Dec. 22) Freedom (Dec. 26) Liberty (Dec. 27) Gator (Dec. 28) Aloha (Dec. 29) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 29) Peach (Dec. 31) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Fiesta (Jan. 1) Orange (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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