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NCAA.com | January 2, 2022

Sugar Bowl: Memorable moments, all-time history

These are the biggest stadiums in college football

After the creation of the Rose and Orange Bowls, Fred Digby, the sports editor for the New Orleans Item, began calling for New Orleans to create a similar experience.

In 1935, enough support had been garnered to play the first Sugar Bowl. It has been held annually since.

The bowl has a lengthy relationship with the SEC. The SEC fielded one of the bowl's teams in each year but one between 1950-95.

Of course, as with much of college football, conference realignments and the rising of different groups staging national championships have changed a lot of things. However, with the creation of the College Football Playoff in 2015, the Sugar Bowl, unless it is hosting a playoff game, will host an SEC team and a Big 12 team.

In the 2022 Sugar Bowl, a defensive battle saw Baylor emerge victorious over Ole Miss 21-7.

HISTORY: Best walk-ons ever | Notable firsts, milestones | Records that will never be broken

Memorable moments

• In 1956, Pitt's Bobby Grier became the first African-American player in the Sugar Bowl. That same year, there was talk that Georgia Tech would not play because of Georgia governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to segregation. Georgia Tech played, and won 7-0.

• In 1968, in the midst of the Vietnam War, Pentagon officials refused to let Army accept an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, citing demands on players' time and that football was not the academy's primary mission.

• The 2006 game was played in the Georgia Dome because the Superdome had suffered so much damage from Hurricane Katrina.

• When Michigan and Virginia Tech met in the 2012 game, it was only the sixth time in bowl history that no SEC team played. Alabama and LSU played for the national title and BCS rules say conferences are allowed just two teams in BCS bowls.

• In the 2022 Sugar Bowl, Baylor represented the Big-12 defeating the SEC's Ole Miss 21-7. The game started slow, especially after Ole Miss quarterback left with a leg injury in the first quarter. However, things got exciting following a Baylor pick-six for 97 yards; the turnover was the lone score for either side in the first half, marking the longest interception return for a touchdown in New Year's Six game history. On offense, running back Abram Smith became the leading single-season rusher in Baylor history.

SUGAR BOWL RESULTS
YEAR WINNER SCORE LOSER SCORE
1935 Tulane 20 Temple 14
1936 TCU 3 LSU 2
1937 Santa Clara 21 LSU 14
1938 Santa Clara 6 LSU 0
1939 TCU 15 Carnegie Tech 7
1940 Texas A&M 14 Tulane 13
1941 Boston College 19 Tennessee 13
1942 Fordham 2 Missouri 0
1943 Tennessee 14 Tulsa 7
1944 Georgia Tech 20 Tulsa 18
1945 Duke 29 Alabama 26
1946 Oklahoma State 33 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 13
1947 Georgia 20 North Carolina 10
1948 Texas 27 Alabama 7
1949 Oklahoma 14 North Carolina 6
1950 Oklahoma 35 LSU 0
1951 Kentucky 13 Oklahoma 7
1952 Maryland 28 Tennessee 13
1953 Georgia Tech 24 Mississippi 7
1954 Georgia Tech 42 West Virginia 19
1955 Navy 21 Mississippi 0
1956 Georgia Tech 7 Pittsburgh 0
1957 Baylor 13 Tennessee 7
1958 Ole Miss 39 Texas 7
1959 LSU 7 Clemson 0
1960 Ole Miss 21 LSU 0
1961 Ole Miss 14 Rice 6
1962 Alabama 10 Arkansas 3
1963 Ole Miss 17 Arkansas 13
1964 Alabama 12 Ole Miss 7
1965 LSU 13 Syracuse 10
1966 Missouri 20 Florida 18
1967 Alabama 34 Nebraska 7
1968 LSU 20 Wyoming 13
1969 Arkansas 16 Georgia 2
1970 Ole Miss 27 Arkansas 22
1971 Tennessee 34 Air Force 13
1972 Oklahoma 40 Auburn 22
1972 * Oklahoma 14 Penn State 0
1973 * Notre Dame 24 Alabama 23
1974 * Nebraska 13 Florida 10
1975 * Alabama 13 Penn State 6
1977 Pittsburgh 27 Georgia 3
1978 Alabama 35 Ohio State 6
1979 Alabama 14 Penn State 7
1980 Alabama 24 Arkansas 9
1981 Georgia 17 Notre Dame 10
1982 Pittsburgh 24 Georgia 20
1983 Penn State 27 Georgia 23
1984 Auburn 9 Michigan 7
1985 Nebraska 28 LSU 10
1986 Tennessee 35 Miami 7
1987 Nebraska 30 LSU 15
1988 Syracuse 16 Auburn 16
1989 Florida State 13 Auburn 7
1990 Miami 33 Alabama 25
1991 Tennessee 23 Virginia 22
1992 Notre Dame 39 Florida 28
1993 Alabama 34 Miami 13
1994 Florida 41 West Virginia 7
1995 Florida State 23 Florida 17
1995 * Virginia Tech 28 Texas 10
1997 Florida 52 Florida State 20
1998 Florida State 31 Ohio State 14
1999 Ohio State 24 Texas A&M 14
2000 Florida State 46 Virginia Tech 29
2001 Miami 37 Florida 20
2002 LSU 47 Illinois 34
2003 Georgia 26 Florida State 13
2004 LSU 21 Oklahoma 14
2005 Auburn 16 Virginia Tech 13
2006 West Virginia 38 Georgia 35
2007 LSU 41 Notre Dame 14
2008 Georgia 41 Hawaiʻi 10
2009 Utah 31 Alabama 17
2010 Florida 51 Cincinnati 24
2011 Ohio State 31 Arkansas 26
2012 Michigan 23 Virginia Tech 20
2013 Louisville 33 Florida 23
2014 Oklahoma 45 Alabama 31
2015 Ohio State 42 Alabama 35
2016 Ole Miss 48 Oklahoma State 20
2017 Oklahoma 35 Auburn 19
2018 Alabama 24 Clemson  6
2019 Texas 28 Georgia 21
2020 Georgia 26 Baylor 14
2021 Ohio State 49 Clemson 28
2022 Baylor 21 Ole Miss 7
* -- Game played on Dec. 31

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