{{Short description|American college football bowl game}} {{redirect|California Raisin Bowl|similarly named college football bowl game|Raisin Bowl}}
{{Collegebowl | name = California Bowl | full_name = California Raisin Bowl | nickname = | defunct = yes | logo = | image_size = | caption = | stadium = Bulldog Stadium | previous_stadiums = | location = Fresno, California | previous_locations = | years = 1981–1991 | previous_tie-ins = | conference_tie-ins = PCAA/Big West, MAC | payout = | sponsors = California Raisin Advisory Board (1988–1991) | former_names = | prev_matchup_year = | prev_matchup_season= | prev_matchup_teams = | prev_matchup_score = | next_matchup_year = | next_matchup_season= | next_matchup_teams = | next_matchup_date = }}
The '''California Bowl''' (later the '''California Raisin Bowl''') was a post-season college football bowl game played annually at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California, from 1981 to 1991.<ref>Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997. Page A1.</ref> The game featured the champions of the Big West Conference (known prior to 1988 as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association) and the Mid-American Conference.
In 1988, the California Raisin Advisory Board purchased the naming rights to the bowl.
The game was dealt a severe blow in 1992 when Fresno State moved to the Western Athletic Conference. The MAC and Big West then moved their tie-ins to Las Vegas, Nevada and created the Las Vegas Bowl. The California Bowl made plans to hold the 1992 game without tie-ins, but was unable to find a new sponsor. When organizers came up short of a $1.75 million fundraising goal, the NCAA pulled the bowl's certification. It has never returned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-05-sp-4944-story.html|title = Archives|website = Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101220040130/http://espn.go.com/ncf/topics/_/page/las-vegas-bowl] "history"</ref>
==Game results== {| class="wikitable" ! Date played ! colspan="2" | Winning team ! colspan="2" | Losing team ! Notes |- | December 19, 1981 || '''Toledo''' || '''27''' || No. 20 San Jose State || 25 || notes |- | December 18, 1982 || '''Fresno State''' || '''29''' || Bowling Green || 28 || notes |- | December 17, 1983 || '''Northern Illinois''' || '''20''' || Cal State Fullerton || 13 || notes |- | December 15, 1984 || '''Toledo''' * || '''13''' || UNLV || 30 || notes |- | December 14, 1985 || '''No. 18 Fresno State''' || '''51''' || No. 20 Bowling Green || 7 || notes |- | December 13, 1986 || '''No. 19 San Jose State''' || '''37''' || Miami (OH) || 7 || notes |- | December 12, 1987 || '''Eastern Michigan''' || '''30''' || San Jose State || 27 || notes |- | December 10, 1988 || '''Fresno State''' || '''35''' || Western Michigan || 30 || notes |- | December 9, 1989 || '''Fresno State''' || '''27''' || Ball State || 6 || notes |- | December 8, 1990 || '''No. 25 San Jose State''' || '''48''' || Central Michigan || 24 || notes |- | December 14, 1991 || '''Bowling Green''' || '''28''' || Fresno State || 21 || notes |}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> ''UNLV won this game, but subsequently forfeited its entire schedule due to the use of ineligible players earlier in the season.''
==MVPs== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Season !MVP !Team !Position |- |1981 | | | |- |1982 |Jeff Tedford | |QB |- |1983 |Lou Wicks | |FB |- |1984 | | | |- |1985 |Mike Mancini | |P |- | rowspan="2" |1986 |Mike Perez | |QB |- |Andy Marlatt | | |- |1987 |Gary Patton | |RB |- |1988 |Darrell Rosette | |RB |- |1989 |Ron Cox | |LB |- |1990 | | | |- |1991 | | | |}
== Appearances by team == {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Rank !Team !Appearances !Record !Win % |- |1 | style={{NCAA color cell|Fresno State Bulldogs}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Fresno State}} |5 |4–1 |.800 |- |2 | style={{NCAA color cell|San Jose State Spartans}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|San Jose State}} |4 |2–2 |.500 |- |3 | style={{NCAA color cell|Bowling Green Falcons}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Bowling Green}} |3 |1–2 |.333 |- |4 | style={{NCAA color cell|Toledo Rockets}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Toledo}} |2 |2–0 |1.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Eastern Michigan Eagles}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Eastern Michigan}} |1 |1–0 |1.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Northern Illinois Huskies}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Northern Illinois}} |1 |1–0 |1.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Ball State Cardinals}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Ball State}} |1 |0–1 |.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Cal State Fullerton Titans}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Cal State Fullerton}} |1 |0–1 |.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Central Michigan Chippewas}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Central Michigan}} |1 |0–1 |.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Miami RedHawks}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Miami (OH)}} |1 |0–1 |.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|UNLV Rebels}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|UNLV}} |1 |0–1 |.000 |- |T5 | style={{NCAA color cell|Western Michigan Broncos}}|{{color|#FFFFFF|Western Michigan}} |1 |0–1 |.000 |}
== Appearances by conference == {| class="wikitable" |- !Rank !Conference !Appearances !Record !Win % !# of Teams !Teams |- |T1 |Big West |11 |6–5 |.545 |4 |Fresno State (4–1)<br /> San Jose State (2–2)<br /> Cal State Fullerton (0–1)<br /> UNLV (0–1) |- |T1 |MAC |11 |5–6 |.455 |8 |Bowling Green (1–2) Toledo (2–0)<br />Eastern Michigan (1–0)<br /> Northern Illinois (1–0)<br /> Ball State (0–1)<br /> Central Michigan (0–1)<br /> Miami (OH) (0–1)<br /> Western Michigan (0–1) |}
==See also== *List of college bowl games
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{California Bowl navbox}}
Category:California Bowl Category:Defunct college football bowls