1986–87 NCAA football bowl games

Season

1986

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 13, 1986 –
January 2, 1987

National Championship

1987 Fiesta Bowl

Location of Championship

Sun Devil Stadium,
Tempe, Arizona

Champions

Penn State Nittany Lions

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
SEC	6	4–2 (0.667)	3
Pac-10	6	3–3 (0.500)	4
Independents	5	4–1 (0.800)	4
Big Ten	5	2–3 (0.400)	3
SWC	4	1–3 (0.250)	3
Big Eight	3	2–1 (0.667)	2
ACC	3	1–2 (0.333)	1
WAC	2	0–2 (0.000)	0
PCAA	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
MAC	1	0–1 (0.000)	0

The 1986–87 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1986 and January 1987 to end the 1986 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 13, 1986, and concluded on January 17, 1987, 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
12/13	California Bowl	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, California		ESPN	San Jose State 37 (9–2) (PCAA Champion), Miami 7 (8–3) (MAC Champion)	NR NR	#19 NR
12/20	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana		Mizlou	Ole Miss 20 (7–3–1) (SEC), Texas Tech 17 (7–4) (SWC)	NR NR	NR NR
12/23	Hall of Fame Bowl	Tampa Stadium Tampa, Florida		Mizlou	Boston College 27 (8–3) (Independent), Georgia 24 (8–3) (SEC)	NR NR	NR #17
12/25	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas		CBS	Alabama 28 (9–3) (SEC), Washington 6 (8–2–1) (Pac-10)	#13 #12	#14 #11
12/27	Aloha Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii		ABC	Arizona 30 (8–3) (Pac-10), North Carolina 21 (7–3–1) (ACC)	#16 NR	#13 NR
12/27	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida		CBS	Clemson 27 (7–2–2) (ACC), Stanford 21 (8–3) (Pac-10)	NR #20	#18 #17
12/29	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee		Raycom Sports	Tennessee 21 (6–5) (SEC), Minnesota 14 (6–5) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
12/30	Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California		ESPN	Iowa 39 (8–3) (Big Ten), San Diego State 38 (8–3) (WAC Champion)	#19 NR	RV NR
12/30	Freedom Bowl	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California		Mizlou	UCLA 31 (7–3–1) (Pac-10), BYU 10 (8–4) (WAC)	#15 NR	#15 NR
12/31	Bluebonnet Bowl	Rice Stadium Houston, Texas		Raycom Sports	Baylor 21 (8–3) (SWC), Colorado 9 (6–5) (Big Eight)	#14 NR	#16 NR
12/31	All-American Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama		TBS	Florida State 27 (6–4–1) (Independent), Indiana 13 (6–5) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
12/31	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta		Mizlou	Virginia Tech 25 (8–2–1) (Independent), NC State 24 (8–2–1) (ACC)	NR #18	NR NR
1/1	Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	12:00 PM	ABC	Auburn 16 (9–2) (SEC), USC 7 (7–4) (Pac-10)	#10 NR	#9 NR
1/1	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	1:30 PM	CBS	Ohio State 28 (9–3) (Big Ten co-Champion), Texas A&M 12 (9–2) (SWC Champion)	#11 #8	#12 #7
1/1	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	3:30 PM	ABC	Nebraska 30 (9–2) (Big Eight), LSU 15 (9–2) (SEC Champion)	#6 #5	#5 #6
1/1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	4:30 PM	NBC	Arizona State 22 (9–1–1) (Pac-10 Champion), Michigan 15 (10–1) (Big Ten co-Champion)	#7 #4	#8 #4
1/1	Orange Bowl	Miami Orange Bowl Miami	8:00 PM	NBC	Oklahoma 42 (10–1) (Big Eight Champion), Arkansas 8 (9–2) (SWC)	#3 #9	#3 #10
1/2	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	8:00 PM	NBC	Penn State 14 (11–0) (Independent), Miami (FL) 10 (11–0) (Independent)	#2 #1	#2 #1

References

"1986 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"IOWA 39, SAN DIEGO STATE 38 : The 9th Holiday Bowl : From Cheers to Tears as Aztecs Left the Field : SDSU Players Stunned After Thinking Hard-Fought Victory Was in the Bag". Los Angeles Times. December 31, 1986. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"FLORIDA CITRUS BOWL; AUBURN WINS, 16-7; FULLWOOD GAINS 152". New York Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"COTTON BOWL; OHIO ST. INTERCEPTS TEXAS A&M, 28-12". New York Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"SUGAR BOWL : NEBRASKA 30, LSU 15 : Notes : Osborne Says Glaring Failures Can't Ruin Nebraska's Season". New York Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"Today's bowl games: Sugar". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). January 1, 1987. p. 5B.
"Arizona State Rallies to Win Rose Bowl : Van Raaphorst Leads 22-15 Victory Over Michigan". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"ORANGE BOWL : OKLAHOMA 42, ARKANSAS 8 : Notes : They Can Keep Boz Out of the Game, but He's Still in the News". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"PENN STATE INTERCEPTS MIAMI FOR NATIONAL TITLE". New York Times. January 3, 1987. Retrieved December 22, 2018.

v t e 1986–87 NCAA football bowl game season
California (Dec. 13) Independence (Dec. 20) Hall of Fame (Dec. 23) Sun (Dec. 25) Aloha (Dec. 27) Gator (Dec. 27) Liberty (Dec. 29) Holiday (Dec. 30) Freedom (Dec. 30) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) All-American (Dec. 31) Peach (Dec. 31) Rose (Jan. 1) Florida Citrus (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Fiesta (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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