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First Responder Bowl
Servpro First Responder Bowl
Stadium	Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Location	University Park, Texas
Previous stadiums	Cotton Bowl (2011–2018)
Previous locations	Fair Park, Dallas, Texas (2011–2018)
Operated	2011–present
Conference tie-ins	AAC, ACC, Big 12, C-USA
Previous conference tie-ins	Big Ten
Payout	US$824,545 (2019)
Website	firstresponderbowl.com
Sponsors
TicketCity (2011–2012) PlainsCapital Bank (2013) Zaxby's (2014–2017) Servpro (2018–present)
Former names
Dallas Football Classic (2011, working title) TicketCity Bowl (2011–2012) Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank (2013–Jan 2014) Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dec 2014–2017)
2023 matchup
Texas State vs. Rice (Texas State 45–21)
2024 season matchup
North Texas vs. Texas State (January 3, 2025)

The First Responder Bowl is an NCAA post-season college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The bowl was first held on January 1, 2011, and since 2014 has been contested in late December. The bowl was held at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park in Dallas through the 2018 game. Since the Cotton Bowl was being used for the 2020 NHL Winter Classic and was not available, the 2019 edition of the bowl was played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in nearby University Park, Texas. The stadium has since become the permanent home of the game.

Originally commissioned as the Dallas Football Classic, it has undergone name changes due to changes in sponsorship. From 2011 to 2012, it was named the TicketCity Bowl after sponsor TicketCity. It was then known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl when PlainsCapital Bank (2013) and Zaxby's (2014–2017) were its sponsors. Since 2018, the game has been sponsored by Servpro and officially known as the Servpro First Responder Bowl.

History

The game was tentatively called the Dallas Football Classic until TicketCity, an online reseller of sports and entertainment tickets, became the first title sponsor, renaming the game as the TicketCity Bowl. This game physically replaced the Cotton Bowl Classic, which moved from its longtime eponymous home to AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington in 2010. In the 2011 edition, the inaugural playing of the bowl, Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference defeated Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference.

After its first two playings, the bowl was renamed as the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The 2013 edition, the first to be so named, saw Oklahoma State of the Big 12 defeat Purdue of the Big Ten. PlainsCapital Bank was the title sponsor in 2013, followed by Zaxby's as the title sponsor from 2014 to 2017.

The 2018 edition was the first to be named the First Responder Bowl, with Servpro as the title sponsor. That game was cancelled due to severe weather with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter, and is considered a no-contest for the teams involved; Boise State of the Mountain West Conference and Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

After having been played on January 1 or January 2 for its first four editions, the game moved to a late December date beginning with the 2014 season.

Stadium

The bowl was held at Cotton Bowl stadium from 2011 through 2018. Originally known as the Fair Park Bowl, the stadium is located in Fair Park, Dallas, site of the State Fair of Texas. The Cotton Bowl Classic called the stadium home from that bowl's inception in 1937 until 2009, after which it moved to what is now AT&T Stadium. Other tenants included, at various times, SMU Mustangs football, the Dallas Texans and Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and the Dallas Texans of the American Football League.

The bowl's 2019 edition was held at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas, to accommodate the 2020 NHL Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl. The stadium has been the home field of the SMU Mustangs since 2000, and hosted the Armed Forces Bowl in 2010 and 2011. The First Responder Bowl has remained at Gerald J. Ford Stadium since 2019.

Tie-ins

For the bowl's first four editions, the Big Ten Conference was contracted to send a team each season, with alternating appearances from the Big 12 Conference in even-numbered seasons and Conference USA (C-USA) in odd-numbered seasons. For the bowl's next six editions, C-USA was contracted to provide a team, which would face either a Big Ten or Big 12 team in an alternating manner.

For the 2013 season, the Big Ten did not have enough bowl-eligible teams, so the selection committee chose an at-large team, UNLV from the Mountain West Conference, to take their place. For the 2015 season, the Big 12 did not have enough bowl-eligible teams, so the selection committee selected the Washington Huskies from the Pac-12 Conference to take its place. For the 2016 season, the Big Ten sent four teams to CFP bowls, so the selection committee chose an at-large team, independent Army, to take its place. In 2017 and 2018, Conference USA was unable to send teams due to not enough members of their conference having bowl eligibility. In 2017, the Pac-12 sent Utah to face West Virginia from the Big 12. In 2018, the Big Ten did not have any remaining bowl eligible teams to send; the matchup, which was not played to completion, pitted Boise State of the Mountain West versus Boston College of the ACC. In 2019, Western Michigan became the first Mid-American Conference (MAC) team invited to the bowl.

In June 2019, the Big 12 renewed its rotating appearance schedule with the First Responder Bowl through the 2025 postseason. In December 2019, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced a partial tie-in with the bowl beginning in the 2020 football season; the conference will send a team to one of three bowls (First Responder Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, or Birmingham Bowl) annually. In May 2020, C-USA reached an agreement whereby it could send one or more teams to a pool of games, including the First Responder Bowl, which are operated by ESPN Events. As of the 2020 football season, the First Responder Bowl has the noted tie-ins with the ACC, Big 12, and C-USA; it also has the American Athletic Conference (AAC or "The American") as an alternate.

Game results

Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played.

† The 2018 game was a no-contest; game canceled due to weather.
‡ The 2020 contest had an unusually low attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First nine editions (2011–2018) played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas

Subsequent games (2019–present) played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas

Source:

MVPs

Source:

Most appearances

Updated for the January 2025 edition (15 games, 30 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

† January 2025 participant

Teams with a single appearance

Won (11): Air Force, Army, Houston, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington, Western Kentucky
Lost (12): Illinois, Louisville, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rice, Southern Miss, UNLV, Utah State, UTSA, West Virginia, Western Michigan
No contest (2): Boise State, Boston College

Appearances by conference

Updated for the January 2025 edition (15 games, 30 total appearances).

† January 2025 participant

• The 2018 game, scheduled between ACC and Mountain West teams, was a no-contest due to weather; no win or loss resulting.
• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Independent appearances: Army (2016)

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

ESPNU televised the first four games. Since December 2014, the game has aired on ESPN, with the exception in 2020 when the game was aired on ABC.

Notes

References

1. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
2. "New SERVPRO First Responder Bowl to be played at Cotton Bowl Stadium". Retrieved August 13, 2018.
3. "Heart of Dallas Bowl to be rebranded by ESPN as vote to keep game in the city looms". Retrieved August 13, 2018.
4. "Dallas bowl game gets new title sponsor". 8 November 2010.
5. Dallas Football Classic To Debut at Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day, AP via CBSSports.com, 14 October 2009
6. "Zaxby's named title sponsor for Heart of Dallas Bowl". Retrieved October 21, 2014.
7. "First Responder Bowl: Boise State vs. Boston College canceled, ruled no contest due to inclement weather". CBSSports.com. December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
8. Baby, Ben (May 23, 2019). "Conflict with Winter Classic forces First Responder Bowl to move from Cotton Bowl to SMU's Ford Stadium". dallasnews.com. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
9. "College Football News, Videos, Scores, Teams, Standings, Stats".
10. Henry, John (December 4, 2016). "North Texas earns rematch with Army at Heart of Dallas Bowl". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
11. "First Responder Bowl Renews Rotating Partnership with Big 12". firstresponderbowl.com (Press release). June 4, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
12. "ACC Announces Bowl Agreements for 2020-25". firstresponderbowl.com (Press release). July 11, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
13. "C-USA Announces 2020-25 Bowl Lineup". conferenceusa.com (Press release). May 28, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
14. Mercer, John David (March 17, 2020). "2020-2021 College Football Bowl Ties, Affiliations For Each Conference". collegefootballnews.com. USA Today. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
15. "SERVPRO First Responder Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
16. Aron, Jaime (January 2, 2011). "Tech's late gamble almost backfires". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City. AP. p. 5B. Retrieved December 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
17. Musselman, Ron (January 3, 2012). "Cougars' Keenum scorches Lions". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D1. Retrieved December 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
18. Davis, Todd (January 1, 2013). "Clint Chelf at heart of Oklahoma State's rout in Heart of Dallas Bowl". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
19. "Derek Thompson sparks North Texas to first bowl win since 2002". AP. January 1, 2014. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
20. Isabella, Sean (December 26, 2014). "Tech's Bates wins MVP against former team". thenewsstar.com. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
21. Sabin, Rainer (December 26, 2015). "Heart of Dallas Bowl: Washington RB earns MVP with huge rushing day". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
22. Loveall, Mike (December 29, 2016). "High (Scoring) Cotton: Army Wins Heart of Dallas Bowl". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
23. Harris, Drew (December 26, 2017). "Utah halts West Virginia to claim another bowl win". theheartofdallasbowl.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017 – via Wayback Machine.
24. Pratt, Elliott (December 30, 2019). "Jackson and Darden shine in final game as Hilltoppers". The Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
25. @TDARaginCajuns (December 26, 2020). "MVP of the First Responder Bowl: UL RB Elijah Mitchell (19 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD)" (Tweet). Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via Twitter.
26. @FRBowl (December 28, 2021). "Shocker of all shockers said no one.... @AF_Football QB Haaziq Daniels is the MVP of @FRBowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2021 – via Twitter.
27. @JacobHRichman (December 27, 2022). "Seth Henigan is named MVP of the 2022 First Responder Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
28. @JacobHRichman (December 26, 2023). "And Brian Holloway is indeed the MVP of the First Responder Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
29. ^ "Servo First Responder Bowl Media Guide". 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via publogix.com.

External links

• Official website

• First Responder Bowl
• College football bowls
• Recurring sporting events established in 2011