For some college football fans, seeing their team play in a bowl game is a rare treat. We’re looking at you, Kansas Jayhawks fans, whose team has been to one bowl since 2008. They’re going back this year, to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Other programs not only expect to play in a bowl every year, they expect to win — or the boosters start grumbling.
That raises a question: Which college football teams have been the most successful in bowls in recent years? We took a look at which teams have the most bowl wins since 2000. The top two or three programs are who everyone would expect, but the real surprises are the powerhouse programs that did not even come close to making the cut.
9. (Tie) Boise State
Bowl wins: 12
Biggest win: The Broncos stunned everyone by breaking out the antiquated Statue of Liberty play (!) in overtime to beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, capping a 13-0 season.
Biggest disappointment: A one-point loss to TCU in the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl ruined Boise State’s shot at a perfect season.
Bottom line: Hard to believe this program didn’t move to the FBS level until 1996.
9. (Tie) Florida State
Bowl wins: 12
Biggest win: The Seminoles and quarterback Jameis Winston beat Auburn to win the final BCS Championship game and finish an undefeated 2013 season.
Biggest disappointment: Florida State got hammered by Oregon, 59-20, in the 2015 Rose Bowl, snapping the Seminoles’ 29-game winning streak.
Bottom line: FSU had a record 36 consecutive bowl appearances between 1982 and 2017, but has had three bowl-less seasons since then. The good times were back this year for the undefeated Seminoles under head coach Mike Norvell, despite the tough College Football Playoff snub.
9. (Tie) Oklahoma State
Bowl wins: 12
Biggest win: Oklahoma State 37, Notre Dame 35, 2022 Fiesta Bowl. The upset capped the Cowboys’ 12-2 season. Close second: The Cowboys’ three-point win over Stanford in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl earned them the No. 3 ranking in the final AP poll.
Biggest disappointment: Underdog Ole Miss steamrolled the Cowboys, 48-20, in the 2016 Sugar Bowl.
Bottom line: Head coach Mike Gundy has taken an OK State team with an uninspiring 6-6 record into a bowl on four occasions, and he’s won all four games to salvage a winning season. That is critical for building momentum for the next season — and keeping boosters happy.
9. (Tie) TCU
Bowl wins: 12
Biggest win: TCU 51, Michigan 45 2022 Fiesta Bowl CFP Semifinal.
Biggest disappointment: Unfortunately, after that big win over Michigan, the CFP title game against Georgia turned into a disaster for the Horned Frogs.
Bottom line: TCU had only one bowl win between 1939 and 1998, but has now won 14 in the past quarter-century.
5. (Tie) Ohio State
Bowl wins: 13
Biggest win: Ezekiel Elliott ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns as the Buckeyes beat Oregon in 2015 in the first CFP National Championship.
Biggest disappointment: Alabama blasted Ohio State 52-24 in the CFP title game to cap the Covid-shortened 2020 season.
Bottom line: The Buckeyes played their first bowl game in 1921, and only won 14 bowls the rest of the century. They’ve already won 12 so far in the 2000s, although their all-time record in bowl games is still a mediocre 27-28.
5. (tie) Texas
Bowl wins: 13
Biggest win: No surprise here. The Longhorns and QB Vince Young finished an undefeated 2005 season with a win for the national championship over USC and Reggie Bush in the Rose Bowl.
Biggest disappointment: A 37-21 loss to Alabama in the BCS Championship, the Longhorns’ only loss of the 2009 season.
Bottom line: Longtime Texas coach Mack Brown announced his resignation before a loss in the 2013 Alamo Bowl sent him out on a losing note.
5. (tie) Utah
Bowl wins: 13
Biggest win: Utah’s 31-17 win over Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl stunned the college football world. The Utes finished the season 13-0.
Biggest disappointment: The Utes blew a 10-point second-half lead to Ohio State in the 2022 Rose Bowl.
Bottom line: Utah won 13 of the first 14 bowls it played in this century, but has been on the skids lately, losing its last four bowl appearances.
5. (tie) Wisconsin
Bowl wins: 13
Biggest win: The Badgers picked up a school record 13th win of the season with a victory over Miami in the 2017 Orange Bowl. Jonathan Taylor racked up 143 yards from scrimmage.
Biggest disappointment: Wisconsin’s 20-14 loss to Stanford in the 2013 Rose Bowl marked its third straight loss in the game; all three losses were by one possession.
Bottom line: The Badgers run hot and cold in the postseason. They’ve won eight of their last nine bowl games, following a streak of six losses in seven bowls.
4. Clemson
Bowl wins: 14
Biggest win: Clemson 35, Alabama 31 in the 2017 CFP National Championship. While the Tigers beat No. 1 Alabama again two years later in the championship to complete a 15-0 season, the first time is always a bit sweeter.
Biggest disappointment: Aside from the obvious — a pair of losses in the CFP title game — a 55-15 blowout by Texas Tech in the 2002 Tangerine Bowl stands out in a bad way.
Bottom line: The Dabo Swinney years have been a golden era in Clemson football, although some fans who were spoiled by four CFP appearances in five years are grumbling.
3. LSU
Cfp Monday Half1 0972
Bowl wins: 15
Biggest win: LSU and Heisman winner Joe Burrow easily defeated Clemson in the 2020 CFP National Championship.
Biggest disappointment: LSU’s undefeated 2011 season came to an end with a shutout by Alabama in the BCS Championship.
Bottom line: This is what you would expect from a team that has featured so many future NFL stars. Les Miles won roughly half (seven) of those bowls.
2. Alabama
Bowl wins: 18
Biggest win: Lots of potential choices here, but it’s hard to argue with the Crimson Tide’s victory over undefeated Clemson in the 2016 CFP National Championship.
Biggest disappointment: Aside from three national title game losses, another stinging loss came in the 2006 Independence Bowl to Oklahoma State. The Crimson Tide finished 6-7, Alabama’s last losing season.
Bottom line: How about this for a weird factoid: Alabama has played in a bowl all but six years since 1959. Three of those bowl-less seasons have come in the 2000s, under three different head coaches: Mike DuBose (2000), Dennis Franchione (2002) and Mike Shula (2003).
1. Georgia
Bowl wins: 19
Biggest win: 2021 CFP National Championship win over archrival Alabama.
Biggest disappointment: The three-point loss to Alabama in the 2018 national championship game stung, but a loss in the 2010 Liberty Bowl ended that season in a demoralizing way. The 6-6 Bulldogs had a chance to finish with a winning record, but scored only six points in a loss to Central Florida. It’s Georgia’s last losing season.
Bottom line: The Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 12 bowl games, including back-to-back CFP national titles. That brings up an interesting point. Several teams at or near the top of this list benefitted from winning national championships under the CFP format, in which they had to win two bowls in a season.
Honorable Mentions and No Shows
The following teams have 11 bowl wins in the 21st century.
- Florida
- Marshall
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas Tech
Who expected the Marshall Thundering Herd on this list? And of course Texas Tech won bowls with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, right? Wrong. The Red Raiders played in one bowl during his three seasons, and they lost.
As noted before, the big surprise is who’s missing from the list. Michigan has somehow won only five bowls this century. Other traditional powers missing include USC (10 bowl wins), Penn State (8 wins) and Miami (6 wins).
