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Boca Raton Bowl
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
Stadium FAU Stadium
Location Boca Raton, Florida
Operated2014–present
Conference tie-ins C-USA, The American, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt
Payout US$900,000 (2019) [1]
Sponsors
Marmot (2015)
Cheribundi (2017–2019)
RoofClaim.com (2020–2023)
Former names
Boca Raton Bowl (2014, 2016)
Marmot Boca Raton Bowl (2015)
Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl (2017)
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl (2018–2019)
2022 matchup
Liberty vs. Toledo ( Toledo 21–19)
2023 matchup
Syracuse vs. South Florida ( South Florida 45–0)

The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at FAU Stadium. Winners of the game received the Howard Schnellenberger championship trophy, named for the football head coach at FAU from 2001 to 2011.

Since 2020, the bowl has been sponsored by RoofClaim.com and officially known as the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. [2] Previous sponsors include Cheribundi (2017–2019) and Marmot (2015).

History

The bowl was founded on October 10, 2013, [3] and was first played in December 2014 as one of the 2014–15 bowl games. [4]

The bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events, in partnership with Good Karma Brands (owner of the local ESPN Radio affiliate WUUB). [4] [5] On October 6, 2015, Marmot, an outdoor clothing and sporting goods company, was announced as the title sponsor of the game. [6] On December 1, 2017, Cheribundi, a New York–based beverage company, was announced as the new title sponsor. [7] [8]

Conference tie-ins

The bowl had a tie-in with the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for 2014 and 2015, to face opponents from Conference USA (C-USA) in the first year and the American Athletic Conference (The American) in the second. [9]

In 2014, Northern Illinois, winner of the 2014 MAC Championship Game, was sent as the conference's representative, while C-USA also sent its champion, Marshall. The MAC and C-USA did not have automatic bowl bids for their champions entering 2014; C-USA had lost its contract with the Liberty Bowl, while the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which usually took the MAC champion, was discontinued after its 2013 playing and the GoDaddy Bowl, which takes a MAC team and has the option to take the conference champion if it desires, did not invite Marshall. In 2015, the MAC sent Toledo and The American sent Temple.

In 2016 and 2017, C-USA and The American had primary tie-ins with the bowl. [10] In 2016, C-USA sent Western Kentucky and The American sent Memphis. In 2017, C-USA sent Florida Atlantic while their opponent, Akron, came from the MAC. A C-USA vs. MAC matchup was again featured in 2018. The "affiliated conferences" for the 2019 game were The American, C-USA and MAC. [11]

Game results

All rankings in AP Poll.

Date Winning team Losing team Attendance Notes
December 23, 2014 Marshall 52 Northern Illinois 23 29,419 notes
December 22, 2015 Toledo 32 24 Temple 17 25,908 notes
December 20, 2016 Western Kentucky 51 Memphis 31 24,726 notes
December 19, 2017 Florida Atlantic 50 Akron 3 25,912 notes
December 18, 2018 UAB 37 Northern Illinois 13 22,614 notes
December 21, 2019 Florida Atlantic 52 SMU 28 23,187 notes
December 22, 2020 13 BYU 49 UCF 23 6,000 notes
December 18, 2021 Western Kentucky 59 Appalachian State 38 15,429 notes
December 20, 2022 Toledo 21 Liberty 19 20,622 notes
December 21, 2023 South Florida 45 Syracuse 0 20,711 notes

Source: [12]

MVPs

2014 MVP Rakeem Cato

The number of players honored as MVPs has varied.

Year Offense Defense Special Teams Ref.
Player Pos. Team Player Pos. Team Player Pos. Team
2014 Rakeem Cato QB Marshall   [13]
2015 Phillip Ely QB Toledo Ju'Wan Woodley LB Toledo   [14]
2016 Anthony Wales RB Western Kentucky Keith Brown LB Western Kentucky   [15]
2017 Jason Driskel QB Florida Atlantic Azeez Al-Shaair LB Florida Atlantic   [16]
2018 Xavier Ubosi WR UAB Anthony Rush NT UAB   [17]
2019 Chris Robison QB Florida Atlantic Rashad Smith LB Florida Atlantic Matt Hayball P Florida Atlantic [18]
2020 Zach Wilson QB BYU Keenan Pili LB BYU Caleb Christensen KR BYU [19]
2021 Bailey Zappe QB Western Kentucky Antwon Kincade DB Western Kentucky John Haggerty III P Western Kentucky [20]
2022 Dequan Finn QB Toledo Nate Givhan LB Toledo Thomas Cluckey K Toledo [21]
2023 Byrum Brown QB South Florida Daquan Evans DB South Florida Aamaris Brown DB South Florida [22]

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2023 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances
Team Appearances Record Win pct.
Florida Atlantic 2 2–0 1.000
Western Kentucky 2 2–0 1.000
Toledo 2 2–0 1.000
Northern Illinois 2 0–2 0.000
Teams with a single appearance

Won (4): BYU, Marshall, South Florida, UAB
Lost (8): Akron, Appalachian State, Liberty, Memphis, SMU, Syracuse, Temple, UCF

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2023 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).

Conference Record Appearances by season
Games W L Win pct. Won Lost
C-USA 6 6 0 1.000 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021  
MAC 5 2 3 .400 2015, 2022 2014, 2017, 2018
The American 5 1 4 .200 2023 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020
Independents 2 1 1 .500 2020 2022
Sun Belt 1 0 1 .000   2021
ACC 1 0 1 .000   2023

Independent appearances: BYU (2020), Liberty (2022)

Game records

[ when?]

Team Record, Team vs. Opponent Year
Most points scored (one team) 59, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State 2021
Most points scored (losing team) 38, Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky 2021
Most points scored (both teams) 97, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State 2021
Fewest points allowed 0, South Florida vs. Syracuse 2023
Largest margin of victory 47, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron 2017
Total yards 655, BYU vs. UCF 2020
Rushing yards 312, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron 2017
Passing yards 441, BYU vs. UCF 2020
First downs 34, BYU vs. UCF 2020
Fewest yards allowed 146, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron 2017
Fewest rushing yards allowed 20, South Florida vs. Syracuse 2023
Fewest passing yards allowed 77, Florida Atlantic vs. Akron 2017
Individual Record, Player, Team Year
All-purpose yards 329, Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) 2016
Touchdowns (all-purpose) 3, most recent: Jerreth Sterns (Western Kentucky) 2021
Rushing yards 245, Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky) 2016
Rushing touchdowns 3, shared by:
Anthony Wales (Western Kentucky)
Devin Singletary (Florida Atlantic)

2016
2017
Passing yards 425, Zach Wilson (BYU) 2020
Passing touchdowns 6, Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky) 2021
Receptions 26, Devin Singletary (Florida Atlantic) 2017
Receiving yards 227, Xavier Ubosi (UAB) [23] 2018
Receiving touchdowns 3, shared by
Anthony Miller (Memphis)
Xavier Ubosi (UAB)
Jerreth Sterns (Western Kentucky)

2016
2018
2021
Tackles 16, Mike Smith Jr (Liberty) 2022
Sacks 3.0, shared by:
Arthur Maulet (Memphis)
Nick Dawson (Western Kentucky)

2016
Interceptions 1, most recent: Miguel Edwards (Western Kentucky)
Michael Pitts (Western Kentucky)

2021
Long Plays Record, Player, Team Year
Touchdown run 86 yds., Noah Whittington (Western Kentucky) 2021
Touchdown pass 80 yds., Cody Thompson (Toledo) 2015
Kickoff return 93 yds., Deandre Reaves (Marshall) 2014
Punt return 24 yds., Jalen Young (Florida Atlantic) 2017
Interception return 22 yds., Rashad Smith (Florida Atlantic) 2019
Fumble return 64 yds., Aamaris Brown (South Florida) 2023
Punt 71 yds., Alex Starzyk (Temple) 2015
Field goal 42 yds., Nick Vogel (UAB) [24] 2018

Media coverage

TV and radio coverage includes play-by-play announcers, color commentators, and sideline reporters.

Television

Date Network Play-by-play Color commentary Sideline reporter
2014 ESPN Dave LaMont Desmond Howard Quint Kessenich
2015 Allen Bestwick Dan Hawkins Tiffany Greene
2016 Dave LaMont Desmond Howard Quint Kessenich
2017 Clay Matvick Kirk Morrison Cole Cubelic
2018 Dave LaMont Desmond Howard and Jonathan Vilma Alyssa Lang
2019 ABC Tom Hart Joey Galloway Pat McAfee
2020 ESPN Dave Neal D. J. Shockley Lericia Harris
2021 Clay Matvick Rocky Boiman Tiffany Blackmon
2022 Anish Shroff Tim Hasselbeck Marilyn Payne
2023 Matt Barrie Dan Mullen Harry Lyles Jr.

Radio

Date Network Play-by-play Color commentary Sideline reporter
2014 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher John Congemi Ian Fitzsimmons
2015 Dave LaMont Brett McMurphy
2016 Marc Kestecher
2017 Steve Levy Desmond Howard Paul Carcaterra
2018 Bill Rosinski David Norrie Ian Fitzsimmons
2019 Dave LaMont Rene Ingoglia Lericia Harris
2020 Chris Carlin Craig Haubert
2021 EJ Manuel Taylor Davis
2022 Rene Ingoglia
2023 Harry Douglas

Legends honorees

Each December, the bowl recognizes one person associated with football in the state of Florida with the Palm Beach County Football Legends Award.[ needs update]

Year Honoree Role Florida team Ref.
2014 Howard Schnellenberger College & NFL head coach Florida Atlantic Owls [25]
2015 Reidel Anthony College & NFL wide receiver Florida Gators [26]
2016 John Carney College & NFL placekicker Cardinal Newman High School [27]
2017 Steve Walsh College & NFL quarterback; High School & CFL coach Miami Hurricanes [28]
2018 Brad Banks College & CFL quarterback; 2002 Heisman Trophy runner-up Glades Central High School [29]

References

  1. ^ "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "Boca Raton Bowl Announces Roofclaim.Com as Title Sponsor". bowlseason.com (Press release). ESPN Events. December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  3. ^ "MAC Announces The Creation Of The Boca Raton Bowl". Mac-sports.com. October 11, 2013. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Drew, David (May 14, 2014). "Dates and times set for inaugural MAC football-affiliated Boca Raton Bowl, Bahamas Bowl". mlive.com. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  5. ^ "Sports Media: Good Karma's deal with ESPN Radio a long time coming". Sports Business Journal. 2023-07-31. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  6. ^ "Marmot Becomes Title Sponsor of Boca Raton Bowl". ESPN Events. 6 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Boca Raton Bowl Announces Cheribundi Tart Cherry As The New Title Sponsor". Boca Raton News Most Reliable Source | Boca Raton Newspaper. 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  8. ^ "BOCA RATON BOWL ANNOUNCES CHERIBUNDI TART CHERRY AS THE NEW TITLE SPONSOR". Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  9. ^ Ellis, Zac (October 11, 2013). "MAC announces creation of Boca Raton Bowl in 2014". College-football.si.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  10. ^ "FB: C-USA Bowl Partners Announce 2017 Dates". conferenceusa.com. May 10, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Matchup". cheribundibocaratonbowl.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "Boca Raton Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
  13. ^ Burke, Peter (December 23, 2014). "Rakeem Cato caps record-setting career with win in Boca Raton Bowl". local10.com. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  14. ^ Smith, Cyrus (December 22, 2015). "Toledo shuts Temple down 32-17 to win Marmot Boca Raton Bowl". underdogdynasty.com. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  15. ^ @BocaBowl (December 21, 2016). "Offensive MVP Ace Wales & Defensive MVP Keith Brown" ( Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Kelly, John W. (December 20, 2017). "Owls are Boca Raton Bowl Champions!". FAU.edu. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  17. ^ @MrOliver1970 (December 19, 2018). "Congratulations to UAB BLAZERS FOOTBALL!" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Boca Bowl Champs!!". fausports.com. December 21, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  19. ^ @BYUfootball (December 23, 2020). "Boca Raton Bowl Game" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Parry, Rose (December 18, 2021). "Western Kentucky Tops Appalachian State, 59-38, in the 2021 Roofclaim.Com Boca Raton Bowl". roofclaimbocaratonbowl.com (Press release). Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  21. ^ Shomo, Evan (December 21, 2022). "Toledo Rockets Win Ninth Annual Roofclaim.Com Boca Raton Bowl". roofclaimbocaratonbowl.com. Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  22. ^ "USF Football Dominates Syracuse, 45-0, In Boca Raton Bowl Victory". USF Athletics. 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  23. ^ @UAB_FB (December 19, 2018). "The 227 yards receiving by Xavier Ubosi is a new @BocaBowl record!" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ @UAB_FB (December 19, 2018). "Nick Vogel knocks through a 42-yard field goal and sets a new @BocaBowl record with the longest made field goal in bowl history!" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ @BocaBowl (December 2, 2014). "Howard Schnellenberger to Receive First-Ever Palm Beach County Football Legends Award Presented by Sun Trust" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ "Reidel Anthony to receive Palm Beach County Football Legends Award". Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  27. ^ @bsschiller (November 29, 2016). "Cardinal Newman alumnus & former NFL kicker, John Carney will receive the 2016 Built Ford Tough Palm Beach County Football Legends Award" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Zips Keep Busy on Final Day Before Bowl Game". gozips.com. December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  29. ^ @BocaBowl (December 17, 2018). "Honoring our #BuiltFordTough Palm Beach County Football Legends Award Winner" ( Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Twitter.

External links