College Football

Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy and other college football bowl game oddities

Published Dec. 26, 2023 4:53 p.m. ET

College football fans across the landscape undoubtedly recognize the names of prestigious bowl games such as the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. However, fans should also familiarize themselves with games such as the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Duke's Mayo Bowl, among others, due to their fun traditions, creative trophies, and not to mention — sweet names.

So, without further ado, let's get into some of college football's most awesome and outlandish bowl games.

Pop-Tarts Bowl

This year's Pop-Tarts Bowl takes place between Kansas State and North Carolina State (Dec 28. 5:45 p.m. ET) in Orlando, Florida at Camping World Stadium. Originally titled the Blockbuster bowl, the game was founded in 1990 and found success in its first year with a marquee matchup between Penn State and Florida State that drew over 74,000 fans.

Since then, the game has found itself under other names, but will feature Pop-Tarts as the title sponsor for the first time this season. And so far, the name has hardly disappointed, as the game's trophy has gone viral for featuring two Pop-Tart slots on top of the hardware.

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

Camping World Stadium will also host this year's Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Jan 1. 1:00 p.m. ET) between Iowa and Tennessee. The contest originally began as the Tangerine Bowl in 1947 and is the seventh-oldest collegiate bowl game in history. As one might expect, the game's trophy has been notorious for featuring a gigantic bowl of Cheez-It crackers, and will also feature an MVP belt.

Duke's Mayo Bowl

Duke's Mayo Bowl, which is held in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium, will feature North Carolina and West Virginia (Dec 27. 5:30 p.m. ET). The bowl game began in 2002 and has been managed by the Charlotte Sports Foundation since 2010. True to the name, the winner of the game is customarily awarded with a mayo bath.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, featuring the beloved Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal mascot as the face of the game, will feature Oregon State and Notre Dame (Dec. 29. 2:00 p.m. ET) in the 90th edition of the contest's history. Since its first installment on Jan. 1, 1935, the game has grown into the No. 1 national tourist attraction in El Paso, Texas, with Tony the Tiger having been the face of the game since 2019.

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