The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Tampa, Florida. The event was known as the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to 2022. It was held at Tampa Stadium from 1986 until 1999, when it moved to then-new Raymond James Stadium. The bowl has been played on New Year's Day for most of its history, often the first game to kick off on a day that is traditionally filled with post-season college football.
History Previous Tampa bowl game The Cigar Bowl was played at old Phillips Field near downtown Tampa from 1947 to 1954. Because the Cigar Bowl featured teams from smaller colleges, however, the 1986 Hall of Fame Bowl was the first major college bowl game to be played in the area.
Hall of Fame Bowl
The Hall of Fame Classic was a mid-level bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1985. In the spring of 1986, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame decided to discontinue their association with the bowl and realign with a new game to be played in Tampa Stadium which would inherit the Hall of Fame Bowl name. Tampa's Hall of Fame Bowl did not initially have any conference tie-ins, so organizers often sought to arrange a match-up between a team from a southern school (usually the Southeastern Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference) and one from another region of the country to maximize both game attendance and potential visitors to the area.
Outback Bowl
Tampa-based restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse became the game's title sponsor in April 1995, allowing the bowl to increase its payout to participants and sign agreements with the SEC and the Big Ten conferences, creating an annual cross-regional match-up that has continued ever since. In 1999, the bowl moved from Tampa Stadium to newly constructed Raymond James Stadium next door.
ReliaQuest Bowl Though it had signed a six-year extension in 2019, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse decided to discontinue its association with the game in March 2022 in a cost-cutting measure, ending the longest continuous title sponsorship in college bowl history and resulting in a temporary renaming of the game to Tampa Bay Bowl. In June 2022, Tampa-based cybersecurity company ReliaQuest was announced as the new title sponsor. The game following the 2024 season was scheduled for December 31, making it the first edition of the bowl since its debut to be scheduled in December, and the first edition scheduled for New Year's Eve, a change spurred by the expanded College Football Playoff. The 2025 edition was also scheduled for New Year's Eve.
The game
The bowl has primarily been played on New Year's Day, unless January 1 falls on a Sunday, in which case it is moved to the following Monday. Often the first game to start on a day which is traditionally full of college bowl games, it has kicked off as early as 11 a.m. ET. The inaugural edition was held on December 23, 1986, and the 2024 and 2025 editions were each scheduled for New Year's Eve.
ESPN has had television rights to the game since 1993. Under an extension of those rights signed in 2010, ESPN broadcasts the game on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2, in conjunction with the Citrus Bowl and the New Year's Six bowl games. Before 1993, the bowl aired on NBC.
Upon signing agreements with the SEC and Big Ten in 1995, the bowl had the third pick of teams from each conference after the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) teams were placed. Since 2014, both the SEC and Big Ten have worked with a group of several bowl games, including this one, to place their bowl-eligible teams after the College Football Playoff (CFP) and associated bowls have made their selections.
As of 2023, the bowl's payout was $6.4 million for each participating team.
Game results
Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played. Date Bowl name Winning team Losing teamAttendance December 23, 1986 Hall of Fame Bowl Boston College 27 Georgia 24 41,000January 2, 1988 Hall of Fame Bowl Michigan 28 Alabama 24 61,075January 2, 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl #17 Syracuse 23 #16 LSU 10 51,112January 1, 1990 Hall of Fame Bowl #9 Auburn 31 #21 Ohio State 14 68,085January 1, 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl #14 Clemson 30 #16 Illinois 0 63,154January 1, 1992 Hall of Fame Bowl #16 Syracuse 24 #25 Ohio State 17 57,789January 1, 1993 Hall of Fame Bowl #17 Tennessee 38 #16 Boston College 23 52,056January 1, 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl #23 Michigan 42 NC State 7 52,649January 2, 1995 Hall of Fame Bowl Wisconsin 34 #25 Duke 20 61,384January 1, 1996 Outback Bowl #15 Penn State 43 #16 Auburn 14 65,313January 1, 1997 Outback Bowl #16 Alabama 17 #15 Michigan 14 53,161January 1, 1998 Outback Bowl #12 Georgia 33 Wisconsin 6 56,186January 1, 1999 Outback Bowl #22 Penn State 26 Kentucky 14 66,005January 1, 2000 Outback Bowl #21 Georgia 28 #19 Purdue 25 (OT) 54,059January 1, 2001 Outback Bowl South Carolina 24 #19 Ohio State 7 65,229January 1, 2002 Outback Bowl #14 South Carolina 31 #22 Ohio State 28 66,249January 1, 2003 Outback Bowl #12 Michigan 38 #22 Florida 30 65,101January 1, 2004 Outback Bowl #13 Iowa 37 #17 Florida 17 65,657January 1, 2005 Outback Bowl #8 Georgia 24 #16 Wisconsin 21 62,414January 2, 2006 Outback Bowl #16 Florida 31 #25 Iowa 24 65,881January 1, 2007 Outback Bowl Penn State 20 #17 Tennessee 10 65,601January 1, 2008 Outback Bowl #16 Tennessee 21 #18 Wisconsin 17 60,121January 1, 2009 Outback Bowl Iowa 31 South Carolina 10 55,117January 1, 2010 Outback Bowl Auburn 38 Northwestern 35 (OT) 49,383January 1, 2011 Outback Bowl Florida 37 Penn State 24 60,574January 2, 2012 Outback Bowl #12 Michigan State 33 #18 Georgia 30 (3OT) 49,429January 1, 2013 Outback Bowl #11 South Carolina 33 #19 Michigan 28 54,527January 1, 2014 Outback Bowl #14 LSU 21 Iowa 14 51,296January 1, 2015 Outback Bowl #17 Wisconsin 34 #19 Auburn 31 (OT) 44,023January 1, 2016 Outback Bowl Tennessee 45 #12 Northwestern 6 53,202January 2, 2017 Outback Bowl #20 Florida 30 #21 Iowa 3 51,119January 1, 2018 Outback Bowl South Carolina 26 Michigan 19 45,687January 1, 2019 Outback Bowl Iowa 27 #18 Mississippi State 22 40,518January 1, 2020 Outback Bowl #16 Minnesota 31 #9 Auburn 24 45,652January 2, 2021 Outback Bowl Ole Miss 26 #7 Indiana 20 11,025January 1, 2022 Outback Bowl #22 Arkansas 24 Penn State 10 46,577January 2, 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl #24 Mississippi State 19 Illinois 10 35,797January 1, 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl #13 LSU 35 Wisconsin 31 31,424 December 31, 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl Michigan 19 #11 Alabama 13 51,439 December 31, 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl Iowa 34 Vanderbilt 27 35,382 Source:
LSU's win in the 2014 edition was vacated in 2023 by the NCAA for a booster-related violation.
MVPs The bowl has named an MVP since inception; in the inaugural game, there were co-MVPs.
DateMVPTeamPositionDecember 23, 1986 James Jackson Georgia QBGarry Moss CBJanuary 2, 1988 Jamie Morris Michigan TBJanuary 2, 1989 Robert Drummond Syracuse RBJanuary 1, 1990 Reggie Slack Auburn QBJanuary 1, 1991 DeChane Cameron Clemson QBJanuary 1, 1992 Marvin Graves Syracuse QBJanuary 1, 1993 Heath Shuler Tennessee QBJanuary 1, 1994 Tyrone Wheatley Michigan RBJanuary 2, 1995 Terrell Fletcher Wisconsin RBJanuary 1, 1996 Bobby Engram Penn State WRJanuary 1, 1997 Dwayne Rudd Alabama LBJanuary 1, 1998 Mike Bobo Georgia QBJanuary 1, 1999 Courtney Brown Penn State DEJanuary 1, 2000 Drew Brees Purdue QBJanuary 1, 2001 Ryan Brewer South Carolina RBJanuary 1, 2002 Phil Petty South Carolina QBJanuary 1, 2003 Chris Perry Michigan TBJanuary 1, 2004 Fred Russell Iowa RBJanuary 1, 2005 David Pollack Georgia DEJanuary 2, 2006 Dallas Baker Florida WR
DateMVPTeamPositionJanuary 1, 2007 Tony Hunt Penn State RBJanuary 1, 2008 Erik Ainge Tennessee QBJanuary 1, 2009 Shonn Greene Iowa RBJanuary 1, 2010 Darvin Adams Auburn WRJanuary 1, 2011 Ahmad Black Florida SJanuary 2, 2012 Brandon Boykin Georgia CBJanuary 1, 2013 Ace Sanders South Carolina WR/PRJanuary 1, 2014 Jeremy Hill LSU RBJanuary 1, 2015 Melvin Gordon Wisconsin RBJanuary 1, 2016 Jalen Hurd Tennessee RBJanuary 2, 2017 Chauncey Gardner Florida DBJanuary 1, 2018 Jake Bentley South Carolina QBJanuary 1, 2019 Nick Easley Iowa WRJanuary 1, 2020 Tyler Johnson Minnesota WRJanuary 2, 2021 Matt Corral Ole Miss QBJanuary 1, 2022 KJ Jefferson Arkansas QBJanuary 2, 2023 Justin Robinson Mississippi State QBJanuary 1, 2024 Garrett Nussmeier LSU QBDecember 31, 2024 Jordan Marshall Michigan RBDecember 31, 2025 Mark Gronowski Iowa QB
Source:
Most appearances Updated through the December 2025 edition (40 games, 80 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances RankTeamAppearancesRecord1 Michigan 7 4–3 Iowa 7 4–33 Wisconsin 6 2–44 South Carolina 5 4–1 Penn State 5 3–2 Florida 5 3–2 Georgia 5 3–2 Auburn 5 2–39 Tennessee 4 3–1 Ohio State 4 0–411 LSU 3 1–1 Alabama 3 1–213 Syracuse 2 2–0 Boston College 2 1–1 Mississippi State 2 1–1 Illinois 2 0–2 Northwestern 2 0–2 LSU's win in the 2014 edition was vacated by the NCAA in 2023.
Teams with a single appearance Won (5): Arkansas, Clemson, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ole Miss
Lost (6): Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, NC State, Purdue, Vanderbilt
Appearances by conference Updated through the December 2025 edition (40 games, 80 total appearances).
ConferenceRecordAppearances by seasonGamesWLWin pct.WonLostVacated Big Ten 37 1987*, 1993*, 1994*, 1995*, 1998*, 2002*, 2003*, 2006*, 2008*, 2011*, 2014*, 2018*, 2019*, 2024, 20251989*, 1990*, 1991*, 1996*, 1997*, 1999*, 2000*, 2001*, 2004*, 2005*, 2007*, 2009*, 2010*, 2012*, 2013*, 2015*, 2016*, 2017*, 2020*, 2021*, 2022*, 2023* SEC 36 1989*, 1992*, 1996*, 1997*, 1999*, 2000*, 2001*, 2004*, 2005*, 2007*, 2009*, 2010*, 2012*, 2015*, 2016*, 2017*, 2020*, 2021*, 2022*, 2023*1986, 1987*, 1988*, 1995*, 1998*, 2002*, 2003*, 2006*, 2008*, 2011*, 2014*, 2018*, 2019*, 2024, 20252013* ACC 3 1990*1993*, 1994* Independents 2 1986, 1988* Big East 2 1991*1992* LSU's vacated win following the 2013 season (played in January 2014) is excluded from win–loss totals and winning percentage.
Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year. Results reflect conference affiliations at the time each game was played. Big East appearances: Syracuse (1992) and Boston College (1993); the American Conference retains the charter of the original Big East, following its 2013 realignment. Independent appearances: Boston College (1986) and Syracuse (1988).
Game records