NCCA Football Cotton Bowl Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

History

The Cotton Bowl was founded in Dallas, Texas in 1937 at the Texas State Fair Grounds, when Texas oil executive J. Curtis Sanford financed the first one out of his own pocket. Texas Christian University took on Marquette, winning, 16-6, but the game lost money even though some 17,000 attended. Nonetheless, Sanford persevered, and in 1938 the game made a profit as Rice defeated Colorado, 28-14, in front of a gate of 37,000.

The 1954 Cotton Bowl featured one of the most famous plays in College Football History. Rice's Dickey Moegle began a run around from the 10 yard line and down the open field. Alabama's Tommy Lewis jumped off the bench and tackled Maegle. The referee Cliff Shaw saw what happened and signaled touchdown even though Maegle was "tackled" at the 42 yard line.

In 1963, the number one ranked University of Texas completed an undefeated season by defeating #2 ranked Navy (who was led by future Dallas Cowboys star Roger Staubach).

The 1979 Cotton Bowl featured one of the most historic comebacks in bowl history. Notre Dame trailed the University of Houston, 34-12 midway through the fourth quarter. Thanks to a blocked punt and the brilliance of future NFL hall of famer Joe Montana, the Irish rallied to win, 35-34.

The 1989 game between UCLA and Arkansas was highly publicized in the Dallas area because UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman was expected to be the #1 pick in the NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Much was made of Cowboys coach Tom Landry watching Aikman practice at Texas Stadium (UCLA's practice facility for game preparation). Landry never got to draft Aikman, because he was fired the next month.

The Bowl was known for featuring great quarterbacks. Sammy Baugh, Davey O'Brien, Babe Parelli, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Joe Theismann, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Doug Flutie, Troy Aikman and Eli Manning all have played in the game.

From 1985 to 1988, 3 of the 4 heisman trophy winners finished their college career in the Cotton Bowl. Doug Flutie for Boston College in 1985, Bo Jackson of Auburn in 1986, and Tim Brown of Notre Dame in 1988.

For 40 years the champion of the now-defunct Southwest Conference played as the home team in the Cotton Bowl. Up until the mid-1980s the contest was counted among the four major New Year's bowls, but lost that stature when many SWC teams served NCAA probations for rule violations (rendering them bowl ineligible). Also during this time the Fiesta Bowl, unhindered by conference tie-ins, began attracting national championship contenders and eventually it replaced the Cotton Bowl as one of the four "major bowls." The demise of the Southwestern Conference (SWC) also led to Mobil's exit from the event. The SWC champion lost the last 7 times they played host to the event, and the bowl hasn't produced a national champion since Notre Dame in 1977. Since 1996, the game has been anchored by the Big 12 Conference. The opponent in the late 1990s was either the Pacific 10 Conference or Western Athletic Conference, and since 1999 the Southeastern Conference (usually a Western Division team) with Southwestern Bell (now AT&T) sponsoring the event.

It continues to be played on New Year's Day (except when January 1 falls on a Sunday; then it is moved to January 2), and is usually the second game of the day to kick off, generally following the Outback Bowl. The 1967 game was moved to Saturday, December 31, 1966, due to the Dallas Cowboys hosting the NFL Championship Game at the stadium on New Year's Day, a Sunday (Note: The other major bowl games that year --- the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Orange Bowl --- were played on Monday, January 2nd).

Fox Sports has televised the the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic since 1999. For many decades, the Game was a New Year's Day staple on CBS, where the man most associated with the Cotton Bowl, Lindsey Nelson, handled the play-by-play. NBC transmitted it for a brief period during the Mid 90's. Currently, Brad Sham, best known as the voice of the Dallas Cowboys is the radio voice of the Cotton Bowl on the Westwood One Radio Network, and longtime NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall has come out of retirement to announce the annual game for Fox.

Games results

MVPs

Sportsbook Expert Columns
	College Football Odds - BCS Title Game Part 3 - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook Special teams are an often-overlooked part of any football game, but any coach will tell you they are still one-third of a team's success.That said, who has the edge in Monday night's national championship read full article...
	College Football Odds - BCS Title Game Part 2 - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook Ohio State's offense is nowhere near as versatile as LSU's is, but then again, the Tigers' defense recently hasn't been as good as the Buckeyes' version.Ohio State - +3.5 on WagerWeb.com for Monday's game read full article...
	College Football Odds - BCS Title Game Part 1 - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook Ohio State's defense would appear to have the advantage against LSU's offense in the national championship game, but then again the Buckeyes were supposed to have the upper hand last year against Florida's read full article...
	College Football Odds - International Bowl - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook What: International BowlWho: Rutgers (7-5) vs. Ball State (7-5)Where: Rogers Centre, TorontoWhen: Saturday, noonWagerWeb.com line: Rutgers -10.5 (60.5)The Mid-American Conference's Ball State Cardinals wil read full article...