1985–86 NCAA football bowl games

Postseason tournament

Season

1985

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 14, 1985 –
January 1, 1986

National Championship

1986 Orange Bowl

Location of Championship

Miami Orange Bowl,
Miami

Champions

Oklahoma Sooners

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
Big Ten	6	3–3 (0.500)	3
SEC	5	2–2–1 (0.500)	4
Pac-10	5	2–2–1 (0.500)	1
Independents	5	2–3 (0.400)	3
SWC	4	3–1 (0.750)	3
Big Eight	4	1–3 (0.250)	2
ACC	3	2–1 (0.667)	2
WAC	2	1–1 (0.500)	2
PCAA	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
MAC	1	0–1 (0.000)	0

The 1985–86 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1985 and January 1986 to end the 1985 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 California Bowl on December 14, 1985, and concluded on January 18, 1986, 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
12/14	California Bowl	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, California			Fresno State 51 (10–0–1) (PCAA Champion), Bowling Green 7 (11–0) (MAC Champion)	NR #20	#18 NR
12/21	Cherry Bowl	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Michigan		USA Network	Maryland 35 (8–3) (ACC Champion), Syracuse 18 (7–4) (Independent)	#20 NR	NR NR
12/21	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana		Mizlou	Minnesota 20 (6–5) (Big Ten), Clemson 13 (6–5) (ACC)	NR NR	NR NR
12/22	Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California		USA Network	Arkansas 18 (10–2) (SWC), Arizona State 17 (8–4) (Pac-10)	#14 NR	#12 NR
12/27	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee		Raycom	Baylor 21 (8–3) (SWC), LSU 7 (9–1–1) (SEC)	NR #12	NR #10
12/28	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas		CBS	Arizona 13 (8–3) (Pac-10), Georgia 13 (7–3–1) (SEC)	NR NR	#20 NR
12/28	Aloha Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii			Alabama 24 (8–2–1) (SEC), USC 3 (6–5) (Pac-10)	#15 NR	#14 NR
12/28	Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida		NBC	Ohio State 10 (8–3) (Big Ten), BYU 7 (11–2) (WAC)	#17 #9	#17 #9
12/30	Freedom Bowl	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California		Lorimar	Washington 20 (6–5) (Pac-10), Colorado 17 (7–4) (Big Eight)	NR NR	NR NR
12/30	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida		ABC	Florida State 34 (8–3) (Independent), Oklahoma State 23 (8–3) (Big Eight)	#18 #19	#16 #19
12/31	Bluebonnet Bowl	Rice Stadium Houston, Texas		Lorimar	Air Force 24 (11–1) (WAC), Texas 16 (8–3) (SWC)	#10 NR	#7 NR
12/31	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta		CBS	Army 31 (8–3) (Independent), Illinois 29 (6–4–1) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
12/31	Hall of Fame Classic	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama		WTBS	Georgia Tech 17 (8–2–1) (ACC), Michigan State 14 (7–4) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
1/1	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	1:30 PM	CBS	Texas A&M 36 (9–2) (SWC Champion), Auburn 16 (8–3) (SEC)	#11 #16	#11 #15
1/1	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	1:30 PM	NBC	Michigan 27 (9–1–1) (Big Ten), Nebraska 23 (9–2) (Big Eight)	#5 #7	#5 #6
1/1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	4:30 PM	NBC	UCLA 45 (8–2–1) (Pac-10 Champion), Iowa 28 (10–1) (Big Ten Champion)	#13 #4	#13 #3
1/1	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	8:00 PM	ABC	Tennessee 35 (8–1–2) (SEC Champion), Miami (FL) 7 (10–1) (Independent)	#8 #2	#8 #4
1/1	Orange Bowl	Orange Bowl Miami, Florida	8:00 PM	NBC	Oklahoma 25 (10–1) (Big Eight Champion), Penn State 10 (11–0) (Independent)	#3 #1	#2 #1

References

"1985 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
"Cotton Bowl; Bo Gets the Yards, but Aggies Get the Win". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
"Fiesta Bowl; Michigan Rallies to Win". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
"Iowa Has No Fun, but UCLA Has a Ball". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
"Tennessee's Defense Controls Hurricanes In Sugar Bowl, 35-7". The Washington Post. January 2, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
"Orange Bowl; Oklahoma Upends Penn State, Stakes Claim to No. 1". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2017.

v t e 1985–86 NCAA football bowl game season
California (Dec. 14) Cherry (Dec. 21) Independence (Dec. 21) Holiday (Dec. 22) Liberty (Dec. 27) Sun (Dec. 28) Aloha (Dec. 28) Florida Citrus (Dec. 28) Freedom (Dec. 30) Gator (Dec. 30) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Peach (Dec. 31) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 31) Fiesta (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Cotton (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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