1988–89 NCAA football bowl games

Season

1988

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 10, 1988 –
January 2, 1989

National Championship

1989 Fiesta Bowl

Location of Championship

Sun Devil Stadium,
Tempe, Arizona

Champions

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
Independents	8	5–3 (0.625)	5
SEC	5	3–2 (0.600)	4
Big Ten	5	2–3 (0.400)	2
Big Eight	4	1–3 (0.250)	3
Pac-10	3	2–1 (0.667)	3
WAC	3	1–2 (0.333)	0
ACC	2	2–0 (1.000)	1
SWC	2	0–2 (0.000)	2
Big West	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
MAC	1	0–1 (0.000)	0

The 1988–89 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1988 and January 1989 to end the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. A total of 17 team-competitive games, and two all-star games, were played. The post-season began with the California Bowl on December 10, 1988, and concluded on January 21, 1989, 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
12/10	California Bowl	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, California			Fresno State 35 (9–2) (Big West Champion), Western Michigan 30 (9–2) (MAC Champion)	NR NR	NR NR
12/23	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana		Mizlou	Southern Miss 38 (9–2) (Independent), UTEP 18 (10–2) (WAC)	NR NR	NR NR
12/24	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas		CBS	Alabama 29 (8–3) (SEC), Army 28 (9–2) (Independent)	#20 NR	#20 NR
12/25	Aloha Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii		ABC	Washington State 24 (8–3) (Pac-10), Houston 22 (9–2) (SWC)	#18 #14	#18 #14
12/28	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee		Raycom	Indiana 34 (7–3–1) (Big Ten), South Carolina 10 (8–3) (Independent)	NR NR	NR NR
12/29	Freedom Bowl	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California		Mizlou	BYU 20 (8–4) (WAC), Colorado 17 (8–3) (Big Eight)	NR NR	NR #20
12/29	All-American Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama		ESPN	Florida 14 (6–5) (SEC), Illinois 10 (6–4–1) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
12/30	Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California		ESPN	Oklahoma State 62 (9–2) (Big Eight), Wyoming 14 (11–1) (WAC Champion)	#12 #15	#12 #15
12/31	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta		Mizlou	NC State 28 (7–3–1) (ACC), Iowa 23 (6–3–3) (Big Ten)	NR NR	NR NR
1/1	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida		ESPN	Georgia 34 (8–3) (SEC), Michigan State 27 (6–4–1) (Big Ten)	#19 NR	#19 NR
1/2	Hall of Fame Bowl	Tampa Stadium Tampa, Florida	1 PM	NBC	Syracuse 23 (9–2) (Independent), LSU 10 (8–3) (SEC)	#17 #16	#16 #17
1/2	Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	1:30 PM	ABC	Clemson 13 (9–2) (ACC Champion), Oklahoma 6 (9–2) (Big Eight)	#13 #10	#13 #10
1/2	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	1:30 PM	CBS	UCLA 17 (9–2) (Pac-10), Arkansas 3 (10–1) (SWC Champion)	#9 #8	#9 #8
1/2	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	4:30 PM	NBC	Notre Dame 34 (11–0) (Independent), West Virginia 21 (11–0) (Independent)	#1 #3	#1 #3
1/2	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	5 PM	ABC	Michigan 22 (8–2–1) (Big Ten Champion), USC 14 (10–1) (Pac-10 Champion)	#11 #5	#11 #5
1/2	Orange Bowl	Miami Orange Bowl Miami	8:00 PM	NBC	Miami (FL) 23 (10–1) (Independent), Nebraska 3 (11–1) (Big Eight Champion)	#2 #6	#2 #6
1/2	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	8:30 PM	ABC	Florida State 13 (10–1) (Independent), Auburn 7 (10–1) (SEC co-Champion)	#4 #7	#4 #7

References

"1988 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"N.C. State Tops Iowa". New York Times. January 1, 1989. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
"THE OTHER BOWL GAMES : Citrus Bowl : Sooners Beaten at Pass by Clemson". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
"COTTON BOWL: UCLA 17, ARKANSAS 3 : Aikman Throws a Coming-Out Party in Dallas". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
"FIESTA BOWL: NOTRE DAME 34, WEST VIRGINIA 21 : DREAM IS SHATTERED : Lackluster Play, Harris' Injury Keep Mountaineers From Realizing Their Goal". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"ROSE BOWL: MICHIGAN 22, USC 14 : PEETE AT A LOSS : Quarterback Can't Find Words to Explain Trojans' Demise in Second Half". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"MIAMI'S DEFENSE DESTROYS NEBRASKA". Chicago Tribune. January 3, 1989. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
"SUGAR BOWL: FLORIDA STATE 13, AUBURN 7 : In Prime Time, Sanders and Florida State Stop Auburn Short". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved December 22, 2018.

v t e 1988–89 NCAA football bowl game season
California (Dec. 10) Independence (Dec. 23) Sun (Dec. 24) Aloha (Dec. 25) Liberty (Dec. 28) Freedom (Dec. 29) All-American (Dec. 29) Holiday (Dec. 30) Peach (Dec. 31) Gator (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 2) Sugar (Jan. 2) Hall of Fame (Jan. 2) Orange (Jan. 2) Florida Citrus (Jan. 2) Rose (Jan. 2) 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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