Poinsettia Bowl Tickets

Poinsettia Bowl
The Poinsettia Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was created in 2005. The game was created by the organizers of the Holiday Bowl and is played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game is currently sponsored by the San Diego County Credit Union and is known as the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

In the week leading up to the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl, Navy accepted an invitation to the 2008, 2009, or 2010 Poinsettia Bowls if Navy is bowl eligible in those seasons. The fact that there are several naval bases in and around San Diego contributed to this decision by the independent Midshipmen. The Poinsettia Bowl announced that if Army had become bowl-eligible in 2006, they would have been given an automatic bowl invite. The Cadets wound up with a losing record and were not invited.[citation needed]

The 2006 game matched Texas Christian University, a 10-2 team from the Mountain West Conference against Northern Illinois from the Mid-American Conference, who finished the regular season with a record of 7-5. TCU defeated Northern Illinois by the score of 37-7.

History:
The decision to bring a second bowl game to San Diego was not made lightly. Producing a second bowl within a week of the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl seemed unrealistic at first, given that it takes a full-time staff, hundreds of volunteers, and an entire year to plan a successful Holiday Bowl. But as the clock expired on the inaugural San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl game between the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy and the Colorado State Rams in 2005, it was evident that San Diego had put yet another successful bowl game on the map.

In 2005, an agreement was reached between the Poinsettia Bowl and the Mountain West Conference in which the Mountain West runner-up would play in the Poinsettia Bowl. Over the past few years the Poinsettia Bowl has also established yearly agreements with Army (2006) and Navy (2005, 2007), guaranteeing them a Poinsettia Bowl berth if they are bowl-eligible (6 wins). Because of the Mountain West's conference ties in San Diego, as well as the city's large naval contingent, it was no surprise that the game has attracted many local fans in addition to those traveling from outside the region.

The Poinsettia Bowl has fulfilled its objective of generating tourism, exposure and economic benefit for the San Diego region, having an annual economic impact of nearly $8 million on the community.

The mission of the non-profit San Diego Bowl Game Association is to generate tourism, exposure, economic benefit, and civic pride for San Diego and its citizens by presenting the nation's most exciting and entertaining bowl games and festival of events.

The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl and Pacific-10 Conference reached an agreement that will provide the bowl game with the 7 th place team from the conference in 2008, and the 6 th place team in 2009, Bowl President Rudy Castruita announced today. The Pac-10 participants will face teams from the Mountain West Conference. The bowl gets the second pick from the MWC.

This announcement does not impact the bowl game's 2007 match-up between the Mountain West Conference and a bowl-eligible United States Naval Academy or another at-large team.

"We are thrilled the Pac-10 has agreed to partner with the Poinsettia Bowl," Castruita said. "It's going to be quite a treat for San Diego football fans to have two opportunities each December to experience Pac-10 football." San Diego 's other bowl game, the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, pits the runner-up from the Pac-10 against an opponent from the Big 12 Conference.

"The announcement of this agreement will be well received by our members and their fans," said Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen. "The organizers of the two San Diego bowl games make it such that a bowl trip to San Diego is one of the most sought after in America."

The Pac-10 announcement coincides with an extension of the Poinsettia Bowl's agreement with the Mountain West Conference. The extension guarantees the MWC will be represented in the bowl through the 2009 contest. The original contract was to expire after the 2008 game.

"Our conference looks forward to continuing this great relationship with the Poinsettia Bowl and the new match-up with the Pac-10 in San Diego," said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson. "We are confident that college football fans from all around the country will be treated to some exciting Poinsettia Bowl games."

In the first two Poinsettia Bowls, Mountain West Conference schools played at-large opponents. Navy defeated Colorado State 51-30 in the inaugural game in 2005; and TCU beat Northern Illinois 37-7 last year.

The 2007 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl kicks off at 6 p.m. PST, Thursday, December 20. For tickets call 619/285-5039 or visit PoinsettiaBowl.net.