{{Short description|Former annual US college football bowl game}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox college football bowl game |name = Dixie Rotary Bowl |full_name = |defunct = yes |logo = Rb logo clr.png |image_size = |caption = |stadium = Greater Zion Stadium |location = St. George, Utah, U.S. |years = 1986–2008 |conference_tie-ins = {{ubl |NJCAA (1986–2005) |NCAA D-II (2006–2008) }} |sponsors = Rotary Club of St. George, Utah }}
The '''Dixie Rotary Bowl''' was a college football bowl game initiated by the Rotary Club of St. George, Utah, and first played in 1986 at Greater Zion Stadium, the home field of Utah Tech University's predecessor institution, Dixie State Junior College. From 1986 to 2005, the game was a junior college bowl sanctioned by the National Junior College Athletic Association, featuring top NJCAA teams. The bowl was an NCAA Division II game from 2006 through 2008 after Dixie State became a four-year college and transitioned to Division II. The game was canceled before the beginning of the 2009 season, after the home team had failed to appear in consecutive seasons, reducing local interest.<ref name=wont/>
==History==
Shortly after its creation, the Dixie Rotary Bowl became recognized as one of the top junior college bowl games in the nation. Beginning in 1991, the game was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network. The 1996 game was televised live to 33 states by Prime Sports Network, the first live broadcast of a junior college bowl game. Dixie State played in 19 of the 20 junior college games (all but the 1992 bowl), posting a 15–4 record. In 1999 and again in 2003, the bowl played host to the NJCAA national championship; ironically, these were two of the four times that Dixie State lost the game.
The Dixie Rotary Bowl became an NCAA Division II game in 2006. The NCAA gave Dixie State special permission to participate in the bowl while serving as a provisional Division II member during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. In 2006, Dixie State received an automatic bid, facing the highest-ranked team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) not invited to the NCAA Division II football playoffs. In 2007, the bowl signed a participation agreement with the RMAC and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), providing for each conference to send its highest-ranked team that did not receive a bid to the Division II playoffs. The final two Dixie Rotary Bowls were played under those terms.<ref name=wont>{{cite web|work=The Daily Herald (Provo, UT)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/467095315/?match=1&clipping_id=134876514|title=Rotary Bowl won't happen this year|date=25 August 2009|access-date=10 March 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==NJCAA National Championships== The Dixie Rotary Bowl twice played host to the NJCAA National Football Championship. The first contest was an unsanctioned ''de facto'' championship between No. 1 {{cfb link|year=1999|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie}} and No. 3 {{cfb link|year=1999|team=Butler County Grizzlies|title=Butler County}} in 1999. Butler County pulled off an upset, defeating Dixie, 49–35.
In 2003, the Dixie Rotary Bowl organizing committee received official sanction for the game to be the NJCAA National Football Championship. No. 1 {{cfb link|year=2003|team=Butler County Grizzlies|title=Butler County}} and No. 2 {{cfb link|year=2003|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie}} again met for the title, with Butler County winning, 14–10.
==Game results== ===NJCAA bowls=== {| class="wikitable" ! Date ! colspan="2" | Winner ! colspan="2" | Loser ! References |- |1986 || '''{{cfb link|year=1986|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 36 || {{cfb link|year=1986|team=Butler County Grizzlies|title=Butler County}} || 33 || |- |December 5, 1987 || '''{{cfb link|year=1987|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 40 || {{cfb link|year=1987|team=Independence Pirates|title=Independence}} || 37 || <ref>{{cite news |last=Fox |first=Doug |title=Dixie Wins Rotary Bowl Thriller |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/150478497/ |newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |date=December 6, 1987 |page=D5 |access-date=July 2, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> |- |1988 || '''{{cfb link|year=1988|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 56 || {{cfb link|year=1988|team=Inver Hills Blue Knights|title=Inver Hills}} || 8 || |- |1989 || '''{{cfb link|year=1989|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 42 || {{cfb link|year=1989|team=Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen|title=Northeastern Oklahoma A&M}} || 21 || |- |1990 || '''{{cfb link|year=1990|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 34 || {{cfb link|year=1990|team=Nassau Lions|title=Nassau}} || 0 || |- |December 7, 1991 || '''{{cfb link|year=1991|team=Navarro Bulldogs|title=Navarro}}''' || 27 || {{cfb link|year=1991|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}} || 22 || <ref>{{cite news |last=Snell |first=Bob |title=Navarro captures Rotary Bowl |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-spectrum/148072801/ |newspaper=The Daily Spectrum |location=St. George, Utah |date=December 8, 1991 |page=1V |access-date=May 25, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> |- |1992 || '''{{cfb link|year=1992|team=Grand Rapids Raiders|title=Grand Rapids}}''' || 42 || {{cfb link|year=1992|team=Snow Badgers|title=Snow}} || 35 || |- |December 4, 1993 || '''{{cfb link|year=1993|team=Coffeyville Red Ravens|title=Coffeyville}}''' || 60 || {{cfb link|year=1993|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}} || 36 || <ref>{{cite news |last=Drew |first=Jay |title=Turnover-Prone Dixie Ripped in Rotary Bowl |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/150445371/ |newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |date=December 5, 1993 |page=C3 |access-date=July 1, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> |- |December 3, 1994 || '''{{cfb link|year=1994|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 26 || {{cfb link|year=1994|team=Garden City Broncbusters|title=Garden City}} || 21 || <ref>{{cite news |last=Drew |first=Jay |title=Dixie's Rotary Bowl Win Couldn't Have Been Written Better |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/150448894/ |newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |date=December 4, 1994 |page=C7 |access-date=July 1, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> |- |1995 || '''{{cfb link|year=1995|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 42 || {{cfb link|year=1995|team=Nassau Lions|title=Nassau}} || 6 || |- |1996 || '''{{cfb link|year=1996|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 34 || {{cfb link|year=1996|team=Grand Rapids Raiders|title=Grand Rapids}} || 16 || |- |1997 || '''{{cfb link|year=1997|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 76 || {{cfb link|year=1997|team=Lackawanna Falcons|title=Lackawanna}} || 21 || |- |1998 || '''{{cfb link|year=1998|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}}''' || 40 || {{cfb link|year=1998|team=Snow Badgers|title=Snow}} || 20 || |- |December 4, 1999 || '''{{cfb link|year=1999|team=Butler County Grizzlies|title=Butler County}}''' || 49 || {{cfb link|year=1999|team=Dixie (Utah) Rebels|title=Dixie (UT)}} || 35 || <ref>{{cite news |last=Parson |first=Jeffrey |title=Butler repeats behind Johnson's seven TDs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle/150430510/ |newspaper=The Wichita Eagle |location=Wichita, Kansas |date=December 5, 1999 |page=1C |access-date=July 1, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> |- |December 2, 2000 || '''{{cfb link|year=2000|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}}''' || 17 || {{cfb link|year=2000|team=Harper Hawks|title=Harper}} || 15 || |- |December 1, 2001 || '''{{cfb link|year=2001|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}}''' || 40|| {{cfb link|year=2001|team=Rochester CTC Yellowjackets|title=Rochester CTC}} || 14 || |- |December 7, 2002 || '''{{cfb link|year=2002|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}}''' || 31 || {{cfb link|year=2002|team=Butler County Grizzlies|title=Butler County}} || 18 || |- |December 6, 2003 || '''{{cfb link|year=2003|team=Butler County Grizzlies|title=Butler County}}''' || 14 || {{cfb link|year=2003|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}} || 10 || |- |December 4, 2004 || '''{{cfb link|year=2004|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}}''' || 27 || {{cfb link|year=2004|team=Grand Rapids Raiders|title=Grand Rapids}} || 20 || |- |December 3, 2005 || '''{{cfb link|year=2005|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}}''' || 35 || {{cfb link|year=2005|team=Garden City Broncbusters|title=Garden City}} || 31 || |} <ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=NJCAA Football Record Book 2023 |url=https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/h/x/031782a5l0d3pm/NJCAA_Football_Record_Book_-_Updated_March_2024.pdf |publisher=National Junior College Athletic Association |page=8 |access-date=July 1, 2024 }}</ref>
===NCAA Division II bowls=== {| class="wikitable sortable" font=90%" !| Year played !! colspan="2" | Winning team !! colspan="2" | Losing team |- |December 2, 2006 || '''{{cfb link|year=2006|team=Fort Lewis Skyhawks|title=Fort Lewis}}''' || 24 || {{cfb link|year=2006|team=Dixie State Rebels|title=Dixie State}} || 14 |- |December 1, 2007 || '''{{cfb link|year=2007|team=Western Oregon Wolves|title=Western Oregon}}''' || 26 || {{cfb link|year=2007|team=Colorado Mines Orediggers|title=Colorado Mines}} || 12 |- |December 6, 2008 || '''{{cfb link|year=2008|team=Western Washington Vikings|title=Western Washington}}''' || 25 || {{cfb link|year=2008|team=Colorado Mines Orediggers|title=Colorado Mines}} || 10 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{NCAA Division II bowl game navbox}} {{Utah Tech University}} {{Dixie State Trailblazers football navbox}}
Category:Defunct college football bowls Category:Junior college football bowls Category:Utah Tech Trailblazers football Category:NCAA Division II football Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1986 Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2009