Fiesta Bowl

After the Western Athletic Conference watched its conference champions miss out on bowl invites in 1968 and 1969, while an undefeated Arizona State squad settled for the Peach Bowl in 1970, the Fiesta Bowl was born.

The inaugural game in 1971 pitted a 9-1 ASU team against 8-2 Florida State, and in a sign of things to come, the Sun Devils knocked off the Seminoles in a 45-38 thriller. ASU won four of the first five Fiesta Bowls on its home field in Tempe, Arizona, but the Sun Devils’ last appearance came in 1983, when they defeated Oklahoma.

During the intervening decades, the game shifted conference allegiance from the WAC (1971-1978) to an at-large system with the “Power Five” conferences sending top-tier talent. From 1980 through today, the Fiesta Bowl has featured two AP Top 25-ranked teams every year except one (1995; No. 4 Colorado over unranked Notre Dame).

Over time, the Fiesta Bowl has become an increasingly prominent postseason spectacle, beginning with the 1987 edition. That year, top-ranked Miami battled second-ranked Penn State in a showdown of 11-0 juggernauts, with the Nittany Lions prevailing 14-10 to capture the de facto national championship.

One of the sport’s most memorable upsets occurred in 2007 at the first Fiesta Bowl played at University of Phoenix Stadium. Despite being undefeated, Boise State was a 7-point underdog against Oklahoma but won outright in a 43-42 overtime classic.

Favorites covered easily on the betting lines in the Fiesta Bowl in 2015 and 2016, but underdogs won outright in the two prior editions of the game.

This year’s Fiesta Bowl features the No. 11-ranked Washington Huskies taking on the No. 9-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State comes into the Fiesta Bowl on a three-game winning streak during which they’ve averaged 52.3 points. The Huskies are also keeping scoreboard operators busy this season as they scored 37 or more points on eight occasions. View our Fiesta Bowl betting preview here.

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