The Best and Worst Bowl Game for Every Top 50 College Football Team

The college football bowl season is a time that celebrates the best of college football...

...and sometimes, the worst.

In this list, you will find each top 50 team's best bowl game, as well as the game that fans wish they could forget.

From confetti raining down to mud on the face, this list is replete with tales of bowl glory and disaster.

Try not to cringe, some of them are pretty rough.

50. Utah Utes

Best: 2009 Sugar Bowl

The Utes finished the season undefeated but were shut out of BCS title game. Alabama was a heavy favorite, but quarterback Brian Johnson and the Utes had other ideas. When the smoke cleared, Utah  had pounded the Tide, winning their second BCS bowl game.

Final Score: Utes-31 Tide-17 

Worst: 1996 Copper Bowl 

The Utes faced an unranked Wisconsin team, led by freshman running back Ron Dayne. Things got ugly quick. It was 31-3 at halftime, and the Badgers rolled the Utes, 38-10.

49. Vanderbilt Commodores

Best: 2008 Music City Bowl

The Commodores have not played in many bowl games. Four, to be exact, with a 2-1-1 record. The only bowl win they have had in the past 55 seasons is over Boston College, 16-14 in 2008. The only other option was back in 1955, so we're going with this one. 

Worst: 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl 

It's the winner by default. Quarterback Whit Taylor was co-MVP, but the Commodores fell, 36-28.

48. UNC Tar Heels

Best: 1997 Gator Bowl

Mack Brown bailed prior to the bowl game, leaving Carl Torbush in charge of a UNC team with a 10-1 record and ranked seventh in the country. The Tar Heels took the wood to Virginia Tech, 42-3, in what's their biggest margin of victory in bowl history. 

Worst: 1983 Peach Bowl

The Tar Heels faced Florida State in this one and were nearly shut out. The final was 28-3, and the FSU defense plagued UNC all day long, allowing three points in the fourth quarter, and that's all.

47. Iowa Hawkeyes

Best: 1984 Freedom Bowl

Chuck Long tossed a record six touchdown passes as the Hawkeyes routed Texas, 55-17. Also of note, last season's Insight Bowl and the 2005 Capital One Bowl. 

Worst: 1981 Rose Bowl

The Hawkeyes had appeared in a Rose Bowl last in the 50s, winning both of them. This one went much differently.

Hayden Fry's boys were ranked 13 in the AP poll and faced Don James' Washington Huskies, ranked 12. It was ugly.

The Final: UW 28 Iowa 0

46. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Best: 2003 Tangerine Bowl

Wes Welker and Kliff Kingsbury were the stars of this one. Welker caught a score and returned a punt as well as Tech hammered Clemson, 55-15. 

Worst: 1995 Cotton Bowl

There was the tight loss to Alabama in 2005, but this 1995 beatdown by USC was ugly. Keyshawn Johnson was the MVP and set a Cotton Bowl record with 222 yards, while scoring three touchdowns.

Final: USC 55 Tech 14

45. Cal Golden Bears

Best: 1993 Alamo Bowl

The Golden Bears won Rose Bowls in 1920 and 1937 but have not really played in many significant bowl games recently.

Their best win was a 37-3 thumping of Iowa in this one. 

Worst: 1959 Rose Bowl

Not every Rose Bowl is fun and games. In the '59 version, the Golden Bears were pummeled by the Hawkeyes, 38-12.

44. Florida Gators

Best: 2007 BCS Championship

After plenty of lobbying from Urban Meyer for no rematch of Michigan/Ohio State, this matchup is what we got for a title bout, instead.

The Buckeyes were the favorite and started off fast on a Ted Ginn, Jr. kickoff return for score. Then things got ugly. At halftime, the Gators led 34-14 and finished off the Buckeyes, 41-14.

Their last two scores came from a guy named Tebow.

Worst: 1996 Fiesta Bowl

62-24 is pretty much all you have to say.

The Gators were destroyed by Nebraska, and Tommy Frazier's epic run late in the game pretty much summed up the entire contest.

43. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Best: 2010 Gator Bowl

Mississippi State, led by quarterback Chris Relf and running back Vick Ballard, stomped Michigan, 52-14.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 14-10 lead but did not score after the first quarter, as the Bulldogs defense shut down Denard Robinson. 

Worst: 1999 Cotton Bowl

Heisman winner Ricky Williams gashed the Bulldogs defense all day long, and MSU allowed 24 points in the third to Texas as they fell, 38-11.

42. Washington Huskies

Best: 1985 Orange Bowl

Don James proved his genius in this one, befuddling a powerful Oklahoma defense with a newfangled notion of sending a tight end in motion. The Huskies were the underdogs but emerged victorious 28-17.

This win gave the Huskies the first of James' two titles. 

Worst: 1993 Rose Bowl

The Huskies do not have many bad bowl losses to their name. Apparently, they get it out of their system in the regular season. In this game, against a Michigan team that had not lost a game, they had the chance to come away with another Rose Bowl win but fell just short.

41. Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Best: 2008 GMAC Bowl

Tulsa hammered Bowling Green a few years ago to the tune of 45-13. 

Worst: 2004 Humanitarian Bowl

Georgia Tech absolutely destroyed the Golden Hurricane, 52-10, in what remains as a lingering bad memory for Tulsa fans.

40. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Best: 2006 Texas Bowl

Ray Rice, that's all. Rice was the catalyst for Rutgers' first bowl win against Kansas State, 37-10. 

Worst: 2005 Insight Bowl

The Scarlet Knights are 4-2 in bowl games, with their most recent loss coming in this game to Arizona State. Since the final was 45-40, and the Knights had a shot to win this one, it makes the list.

39. Louisville Cardinals

Best: 1991 Fiesta Bowl

Howard Schnellenberger led them to the convincing win in this one against Gene Stallings' Alabama team.

It was 25-0 by the end of the first quarter, and the end result was a 34-7 beating by the Cardinals. 

Worst: 2002 GMAC Bowl

Byron Leftwich torched the Cardinals for four touchdown tosses as the Thundering Herd punished the Cardinals, 38-15.

38. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

Best: 2008 Independence Bowl

There have only been two bowl wins in Louisiana Tech's history.

Derek Dooley led them to this win over NIU, as wide receiver Phillip Livas returned a kick 97 yards for a touchdown to help the Bulldogs to the 17-10 win.

Worst: 2001 Humanitarian Bowl

Clemson blew out the bulldogs, 49-28. It was pretty much expected, but since they only have two bowl losses in history, we have to pick one.

37. Virginia Cavaliers

Best: 2002 Continental Tire Bowl

In this one, Al Groh led the unranked Cavaliers to a victory over the 16th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. Wali Lundy rushed for two scores and caught two more, and the Cavs emerged victorious, 48-22. 

Worst: 2000 Oahu Bowl

The Cavs don't always make a bowl game, but they don't lose badly when they do. This one, a 37-14 loss to Georgia, is one of the worst in recent memory.

36. Arkansas State Red Wolves

Best: Never Won

The Red Wolves have never won a bowl game but are hoping to change that this season. 

Worst: 2005 New Orleans Bowl

This one wins by default. The Red Wolves lost, 31-17, to Southern Miss in their only bowl appearance.

35. NIU Huskies

Best: 2010 Humanitarian Bowl

The Huskies are 3-3 in bowl history, and their most recent win was their most impressive. Chandler Harnish dominated Fresno State in this one, leading NIU to a 40-17 victory. 

Worst: 2006 Poinsettia Bowl

With only three losses to choose from, the beating NIU received at the hands of TCU, 37-7, is one the Huskies would rather forget.

34. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Best: 1991 Citrus Bowl

Tech's destruction of Nebraska, 45-21, gave them their fourth title, as they finished the season as Division I-A's only undefeated team and finished ahead of Colorado in the final AP poll. 

Worst: 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl

This game was embarrassing. LSU dominated the entire game, winning 38-3.

The Tigers were unranked, and Tech was ranked 14th in the AP at the time. Jordan Jefferson was named MVP of a game that Tech fans would rather forget.

33. BYU Cougars

Best: 1984 Holiday Bowl

We always like to talk about Jim McMahon and the Cougars epic comeback in that famous Holiday Bowl, but Robbie Bosco may have been a better quarterback.

In this game, he toughed out a knee ligament strain to lead the Cougars to this win over Michigan, giving the Cougars the ability to claim the national title.

Worst: 1990 Holiday Bowl

The Cougars played in the Holiday bowl 11 times out of their 29 bowl games. Of course, this is one that was tough to swallow for BYU fans. The Cougars were punished by an unranked Texas A&M team, 65-14.

At the time, the Cougars were ranked 13th in the Coaches' Poll, as they became victims of the infamous upset bug.

32. Iowa State Cyclones

Best: Any bowl game with a name starting with "I."

The Cyclones have won three bowl games in their history—two Independence bowls and an Insight Bowl. Unfortunately, they are playing in the Pinstripe Bowl, which does not bode well for their bowl chances. 

Worst: 2005 Houston Bowl

The 'Clones were trying for the first consecutive bowl wins ever.

TCU edged them out, 27-24, and ISU would not return to a bowl game until 2009.

31. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Best: 1973 Sugar Bowl

This was the first meeting of the two storied programs and pitted two undefeated, top four teams against each other in Notre Dame and Alabama.

In a back-and-forth affair, Ara Parseghian's Irish played stout defense and edged the Tide, 24-23, helping them jump to No. 1 in the final AP rankings.

Worst: 2007 Sugar Bowl

In Notre Dame's last appearance in the BCS, they got absolutely destroyed by LSU, 41-14. This was overshadowed by Florida's upset of Florida in the title game.

Still, this is one the Irish just did not appear prepared for, allowing JaMarcus Russell to shred their defense.

30. Texas A&M Aggies

Best: 1990 Holiday Bowl

Legendary head coach R.C Slocum led the Aggies to this victory over a top-10 BYU team, 65-14.

This is one of the greatest upsets in A&M history. 

Worst: 2006 Holiday Bowl

At least the Big 12 received $2.2 million for this game. The Aggies faced Cal and were destroyed 45-10.

29. Florida State Seminoles

Best: 1994 Orange Bowl

This was the Seminoles' first national title—a game that was decided by a field goal that Nebraska kicker Byron Bennett kicked wide left.

The game was intense, and close, until the end, but Charlie Ward and the Seminoles proved to be the better team, taking home the title. 

Worst: 2006 Orange Bowl

This game took four hours and was finally decided in triple overtime. This was the last meeting between two coaching legends, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno.

Paterno's third-ranked Nittany Lions took on the 22nd-ranked Seminoles. JoePa and the Lions capitalized on an FSU missed field goal in overtime No. 3 and won the game, 26-23.

28. Cincinnati Bearcats

Best: 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl

There are not a whole lot to choose from here, so let's go with one of the more recent wins. A 31-21 victory over Southern Miss... 

Worst: 2010 Sugar Bowl

Yeah, that Sugar Bowl was awful for public perception of the Gators.

Tim Tebow threw three touchdowns and garnered 320 yards passing in the first half on the way to a 51-24 rout of the eighth-ranked Bearcats.

27. Missouri Tigers

Best: 2008 Cotton Bowl

Missouri capped off a great 11-2 season with this beating of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. 

Senior running back, Tony Temple set a single-game rushing record for the Cotton Bowl Classic with 281 yards and four touchdowns, and the Tigers knocked off the Hogs, 38-7. 

Worst: 2009 Texas Bowl

It started out well for Missouri, as they scored first. Unfortunately, they never sniffed the end zone again. Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs had a big game, and the Midshipmen won going away, 35-13.

26. Auburn Tigers

Best: 2011 BCS Championship

Why? Simply because of the route it took to get there.

The Tigers navigated through the Cam Newton controversy, a ridiculously good Iron Bowl and a scary good Oregon team to win this one.

Michael Dyer was key at the end of the game, keeping plays alive, and the Tigers kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. 

Worst: 2006 Capital One Bowl

The Tigers entered this game ranked seventh in the AP and were facing a Wisconsin team ranked 22nd.

The Badgers ended up on top, 24-10, behind the solid rushing of running back Brian Calhoun.

25. Texas Longhorns

Best: 2006 Rose Bowl

This was the greatest bowl game of all time, capped by the stellar play of quarterback Vince Young, as the Longhorns edged the USC Trojans and their two Heisman winners, 41-38.
 

Worst: 1991 Cotton Bowl

This one was ugly. The 'Horns were 10-1 and ranked third, taking on the 9-2 Miami Hurricanes, ranked fourth.

When the dust had settled, the 'Canes were on top, 46-3.

24. West Virginia Mountaineers

Best: 2008 Fiesta Bowl

Owen Schmitt got the ball rolling with this touchdown run, and the Mountaineers cruised to a 48-28 victory over the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. Backup running back Noel Devine scored twice as WVU took it to the Sooners. 

Worst: 1994 Sugar Bowl

Steve Spurrier coached the Florida Gators to this spanking of the third-ranked Mountaineers—a game in which the Gators outgained WVU 481 to 265 en route to a 41-7 victory.

23. Penn State Nittany Lions

Best: 1987 Fiesta Bowl

This game gets the nod, not solely because it gave the Lions a national title, but it also garnered the highest television rating of any bowl to that date.

President Reagan also gave an interview during the halftime show. This game was hyped up, with good reason, and the animosity prior to kickoff was palpable.

The game was hard-hitting, and Penn State came out on top of Jimmy Johnson's Miami squad, 14-10.

Worst: 1988 Citrus Bowl

Just one year removed from their national title, PSU was shellacked in this bowl by Clemson, 35-10.

The Lions had been plagued by injury, but were still expected to have a good showing.

That obviously didn't happen.

22. Southern Miss

Best: 1997 Liberty Bowl 

The Golden Eagles capped off an undefeated C-USA season with a pounding of Pitt in this bowl.

The Final: USM 41 Pitt 7

Worst: 2003 Liberty Bowl

The Eagles struggled to score against Utah's stout defense. The Utes held USM scoreless in this one.

17-0 was the tally, in favor of Utah.

21. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Best: 1996 Fiesta Bowl

62-24 and the greatest run in the history of college football, are pretty much the only things you need to know about this one.

Check the video, Frazier was a beast in this one. 

Worst: Bowls against Florida teams from '87-'93

20. Houston Cougars

Best: 1980 Cotton Bowl

One year after their tough loss to the Irish, the Cougars faced Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl. With six seconds left on the clock, backup quarterback Terry Elston fired the game-winning touchdown pass. 

Worst: 1979 Cotton Bowl

The infamous "Chicken Soup Game." Notre Dame trailed 34-12 in the fourth quarter before quarterback Joe Montana returned to the field from the locker room, where he had been fighting off hypothermia.

He led the Irish to 23 unanswered points and a win in one of the best bowl games in history.

19. TCU Horned Frogs

Best: 2011 Rose Bowl

TCU scored another one for the non-AQ schools when they knocked off a highly ranked Wisconsin team, 21-19 in this one.

Andy Dalton led the offense, befuddling the Badgers the entire game, while Tank Carder and Tanner Brock dominated from their linebacker position. 

Worst: Usually involves Boise State

The Horned Frogs have only lost two bowl games since 2002, and both were to the Broncos...

18. Michigan State Spartans

Best: 1988 Rose Bowl

The Spartans won, 20-17 over USC, but the real story of this game was the play of linebacker Percy Snow.

Snow had 17 unassisted tackles and won game MVP for his efforts.

Worst: 2011 Capital One Bowl

Alabama spanked the Spartans, 49-7, and it was uglier than that score would indicate.

17. Georgia Bulldogs

Best: 1981 Sugar Bowl

This game, a close one against Notre Dame, gave the Bulldogs a national title when they emerged on top, 17-10.

Herschel Walker scored twice, from one yard out and three yards out and won bowl MVP honors. 

Worst: 1977 Sugar Bowl

There's no shame in losing to the best team in the country, but getting beat by more than three touchdowns hurts.

That's exactly what happened to the Dawgs as they fell to Pitt, 27-3.

16. Clemson Tigers

Best: 1982 Orange Bowl

The Tiger 22-15 win over Nebraska gave them and coach Danny Ford their only national title.

Clemson's stifling defense led to the victory in the most memorable game in Clemson history. 

Worst: 2002 Tangerine Bowl 

Kliff Kingsbury torched the Tigers in this forgettable performance against Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders hung 55 on Clemson in the loss.

15. Oklahoma Sooners

Best: 2001 Orange Bowl

There are many bowl wins in OU's long and illustrious history, but this one stands out to me. The defensive domination of one of the most explosive offenses in football was impressive.

Final: OU 13  FSU 2 

Worst: 2007 Fiesta Bowl

"The Boise State Game." Enough said.

14. Michigan Wolverines

Best: 1998 Rose Bowl

Yep, that play took place in the Rose Bowl. Woodson was a monster, no doubt.

The Wolverines 21-16 win over Washington State secured their most recent national title.

Worst: 2011 Gator Bowl

This was ugly.

52-14 was the margin by which Mississippi State beat the Wolverines—the worst bowl loss in U of M history.

Rich-Rod suffered the consequences.

13. Baylor Bears

Best: 1985 Liberty Bowl

There are not a ton of wins to choose from, but this one stands out mainly because of Coach Teaff's well-documented memories of the pregame festivities. 

Worst: 1981 Cotton Bowl

With Teaff at the helm, the Bears managed a 10-1 season, only to get hammered, 30-2, by Bear Bryant and Alabama.

12. Virginia Tech Hokies

Best: 1995 Sugar Bowl

In this game, Frank Beamer established that the Hokies were going to be a good team as long as he coached.

It was the beginning of the uprise for Tech football. The Hokies beat highly ranked Texas, 28-10, and wide receiver Bryan Still was the game MVP. 

Worst: 2011 Orange Bowl

The Hokies snuck into the BCS as ACC champs and ran into a buzzsaw in No. 5 Stanford.

The final result was a forgettable 40-12 nightmare for the Hokies.

11. Wisconsin Badgers

Best: 1999 Rose Bowl

Ron Dayne dominated this vastly entertaining game against UCLA. The Badgers won 38-31 against a supposedly faster team.

In this video, you can see Dayne pulling away from the speedy defensive backs of UCLA. 

Worst: 2011 Rose Bowl

The Badgers seemed to abandon their dominant run game early in this contest with TCU, and it cost them.

A failed two-point conversion in the waning minutes left the Badgers behind, 21-19.

10. South Carolina Gamecocks

Best: 2002 Outback Bowl

Lou Holtz took a woeful program and helped turn it into a successful one.

In what was a rematch of the previous season's Outback Bowl, the Gamecocks rushed out to a 28-0 lead over Ohio State. The Buckeyes roared back and tied the game at 28 with less than two minutes on the clock.

But, after exchanging interceptions, SC was able to seal the win with a field goal.

Final : SC 31 OSU 28 

Worst: Every bowl game before the 90s

9. Kansas State Wildcats

Best: 1999 Holiday Bowl

Bill Snyder coached the Wildcats to a 10-1 season, and they capped it off with this 24-20 win over Washington.

Jonathan Beasley scored twice to catapult the Wildcats to one of their best seasons ever. 

Worst: 2006 Texas Bowl

Bill Snyder was not coaching at the time, which may have contributed to this 37-10 loss to Rutgers.

8. Boise State Broncos

Best: 2007 Fiesta Bowl

Best. Game. Ever. 

Worst: 2008 Poinsettia Bowl

The undefeated Broncos fell to 10-2 TCU in the first game that featured two teams ranked higher than teams that made their way into a BCS game.

7. Arkansas Razorbacks

Best: 2000 Cotton Bowl

Cedric Cobbs was the catalyst for the Razorbacks' 27-6 win over 14th-ranked Texas in this one.

Cobbs scored in the fourth quarter, leading the way for an Arkansas outburst of 17 unanswered points. 

Worst: 2007 Capital One Bowl

The Razorbacks were ranked lower in this one, but as a member of the dominant SEC, many thought they would be too fast for the Wisconsin Badgers.

This proved to be false, as Wisconsin won, 17-14.

6. Oregon Ducks

Best: 2002 Fiesta Bowl

Joey Harrington and the Ducks should have played for the title this year but wound up with a pretty convincing win in the Fiesta instead.

Harrington threw for 350 yards and four scores in the Ducks' 38-16 win over Colorado. 

Worst: Any Chip Kelly has coached

The man can't win a bowl game.

5. USC Trojans

Best: 2005 Orange Bowl; also of note, 21 Rose Bowl wins

That's right, 21 Rose Bowl victories, that's more wins than many teams have bowl appearances.

But even though their 2005 title was vacated, it's still the greatest bowl win by the Trojans in history, dropping 55 points on a stout Oklahoma defense in a game that featured two Heisman-winning quarterbacks. 

Worst: 2006 Rose Bowl

The Vince Young game. How painful.

The Final: Texas 41 USC 38

4. Stanford Cardinal

Best: 2011 Orange Bowl

Those Rose Bowls are all pretty nice, but last season's Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech, to push the Cardinal to 11-1, is the best in recent memory.

Stanford fans, feel free to disagree. 

Worst: 1952 Rose Bowl

Back when Stanford was known as "The Indians," they suffered a 40-7 beating at the hands of the Fighting Illini of Illinois.

3. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Best: 1988 Holiday Bowl

Barry Sanders made this one great.

The scores from this bowl game would have taken his total touchdowns in this season to 44, if the NCAA counted bowl stats back then.

His first score you have seen. Here are his second, third, fourth (after completing the pass to Mike Gundy) and fifth. 

Worst: 1948 Delta Bowl, 2004 Alamo Bowl

That Delta Bowl is a distant memory, but any time a team loses to William and Mary, 20-0, it's worth a mention.

More recently, the brutal 33-7 loss at the hands of Ohio State probably still lingers in the minds of some Cowboys fans.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

Best: 1979 Sugar Bowl

A Major Ogilvie touchdown created the winning margin in this one, as the Tide won one of the best bowl games of all time over Penn State, 14-7, claiming the national title.

The famous "goal-line stand" took place in this game, and "Big Al,"  'Bama's elephant mascot, first appeared here. 

Worst: 2009 Sugar Bowl

That's right, the one that got away.

The Tide had title aspirations until losing in the SEC championship game to the "Fighting Tebows."

They squared off against Utah, were the favorites, and promptly got owned. Score one for the non-AQs.

1. LSU Tigers

Best: 2004 BCS Championship

This win over Oklahoma gave the Tigers their first title since 1958.

In the most controversial matchup of BCS history, they took on an Oklahoma team that had been handily beaten by Kansas State in their conference title game.

LSU's defense was too much for the Sooners, as they emerged on top, 21-14. 

Worst: 2005 Capital One Bowl

Watch the video. It's a bad way to lose.