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Mineral Water Bowl
Excelsior Springs Mineral Water Bowl
StadiumTiger Stadium (2003–2019)
Location Excelsior Springs, Missouri
Previous stadiumsRoosevelt Field
Operated1948–1951, 1954–1975,
1992–2019
Conference tie-ins NSIC (2000–2019)
At-large (2018–2019)
Previous conference tie-ins MIAA (2000–2017)
Sponsors
Quarterback Club of Excelsior Springs

The Mineral Water Bowl was an annual American NCAA Division II college football bowl game held in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at Tiger Stadium. Throughout its long history (1948 to 2019), the game was sponsored by the Quarterback Club, a civic organization in Excelsior Springs. At the time of its demise, it was one of four Division II sanctioned bowl games, along with the Live United Texarkana Bowl, the Heritage Bowl, and the America's Crossroads Bowl.

History

Roosevelt Field at Excelsior Springs High School which was home to the bowl until the school moved in 2003. The stadium is on the banks of the Fishing River near downtown Excelsior Springs blocks from the Hall of Waters Historic District and Elms Hotel
Tiger Stadium at the new Excelsior Springs High School on the edge of Excelsior Springs

The first Mineral Water Bowl was played on Thanksgiving Day in 1948. [1] The game was established to showcase the Excelsior Springs High School team against another Missouri high school squad, but the Missouri High School Athletic Association never officially sanctioned it and forbade Excelsior Springs from playing in the game after 1950. (It remains unclear why Excelsior Springs was singled out while the association continued to sanction other Thanksgiving football games in the state, such as Kirkwood vs. Webster Groves, still played to this day). After the 1951 contest, which featured two opponents from outside the area, the high school Mineral Water Bowl was no more.

An attempt to continue the bowl in 1952 as a small-college contest failed after Northeast Missouri State (today Truman State), that year's co-champions of the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association (today the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association), turned down an invitation to participate. [2] Undeterred by this setback, local organizers succeeded in reviving the game as a small-college bowl two years later, in 1954. [3] The game was eventually moved from Thanksgiving Day to the Saturday before or after the holiday. As of 1957, it was one of 11 sanctioned NCAA bowl games. The bowl continued in the small-college format, hosting teams from as far away as Michigan and Colorado, but the pool of potential quality opponents dwindled after the onset of football playoffs for NCAA Division II and Division III, in 1973. Despite featuring a Missouri school in 11 of 22 contests, the bowl suffered from declining interest and was discontinued for a second time after the 1975 game. Crowds had dwindled from a peak of 7,000 in the 1960s to just 1,500 in 1974. [4]

After a gap of seventeen years, the bowl was revived as a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) postseason game, held annually on the first Saturday in December starting in 1992. [5] In the 1996 contest, Blinn (TX) defeated Coffeyville (KS) for the NJCAA championship. The junior college bowl typically featured top-ranked teams, and the Kansas community college league--closest to the game site geographically--provided teams for six of the games, but after eight years the sponsors opted to make it an NCAA bowl once again, this time for teams from Division II.

Starting in 2000, representatives from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) were chosen yearly for the game, with invitations going to the top-placing team in each conference not receiving a bid to the NCAA Division II National Football Championship playoffs. [6] The arrangement between the MIAA and NSIC continued until 2017 but was eventually strained when the MIAA began to send its top non-playoff teams to four other Division II bowl games: the now-defunct Kanza Bowl (from 2009 through 2012) and C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl (in 2016 and 2017), along with the Live United Texarkana Bowl (in 2014, 2015, and 2017) and Heritage Bowl (in 2017). After 2017, the NSIC had the only automatic bid to the game, with its representative facing an at-large opponent. The 2018 game featured teams from the NSIC and the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The 2019 game once again included representatives from the NSIC and MIAA, the latter chosen as an at-large team.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of all Division II postseason football games in 2020. Local organizers hoped to hold the Mineral Water Bowl in 2021, [7] but after failing to do so, [8] they finally gave up on continuing the game in 2022, citing a lack of sponsors. [9]

All-time scores

High school

Date played Winning team Losing team
November 25, 1948 Excelsior Springs (MO) 48 Mexico (MO) 18
November 24, 1949 Excelsior Springs 12 North Kansas City (MO) 6
November 23, 1950 Raytown (MO) 7 Excelsior Springs 0
November 22, 1951 Harrisonville (MO) 14 Higginsville (MO) 13

Small college

Date played Winning team Losing team
November 25, 1954 Hastings 20 College of Emporia 14
November 24, 1955 Missouri Valley 31 Hastings 7
November 22, 1956 St. Benedict's 14 Northeastern State (OK) 13
November 30, 1957 William Jewell 33 Hastings 14
November 22, 1958 Lincoln (MO) 21 Emporia State 0
November 28, 1959 College of Emporia 21 Austin 20
November 26, 1960 Hillsdale 17 Iowa State Teachers 6
November 25, 1961 Northeast Missouri State 22 Parsons 8
November 24, 1962 Adams State 23 Northern Illinois 20
November 30, 1963 Northern Illinois 21 Southwest Missouri State 14
November 28, 1964 North Dakota State 14 Western State (CO) 13
November 27, 1965 North Dakota 37 Northern Illinois 20
November 26, 1966 Adams State 14 Southwest Missouri State 8
November 25, 1967 William Jewell 14 Doane 14
November 30, 1968 Doane 10 Central Missouri State 0
November 29, 1969 Saint John's (MN) 21 Simpson 0
November 28, 1970 Franklin IN 40 Wayne State (NE) 12
December 4, 1971 Bethany (KS) 17 Missouri Valley 14
November 18, 1972 Ottawa (KS) 27 Friends 20
November 17, 1973 William Jewell 20 St. Mary of the Plains 9
November 23, 1974 Midland 32 Friends 6
November 22, 1975 Missouri Western State 44 Graceland 0

Junior college

Date played Winning team Losing team
December 5, 1992 Garden City (KS) 12 Itawamba (MS) 10
December 4, 1993 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 52 El Dorado (KS) 50
December 3, 1994 Hinds (MS) 19 Blinn (TX) 17
December 2, 1995 Middle Georgia 42 Hutchinson (KS) 37
December 7, 1996 Blinn (TX) 43 Coffeyville (KS) 17
December 6, 1997 Snow (UT) 26 Coffeyville (KS) 22
December 5, 1998 Middle Georgia 41 Northeast Mississippi 3
December 4, 1999 Blinn (TX) 29 Fort Scott (KS) 20

NCAA Division II

Date played Winning team Losing team Notes
December 2, 2000 Winona State (NSIC) 43 Missouri Western (MIAA) 41 3 OT
December 1, 2001 Central Missouri (MIAA) 48 Minnesota–Duluth (NSIC) 17
December 7, 2002 Emporia State (MIAA) 34 Winona State (NSIC) 27 OT
December 6, 2003 Missouri Western (MIAA) 24 Concordia (MN) (NSIC) 14
December 4, 2004 Washburn (MIAA) 36 Northern State (NSIC) 33
December 3, 2005 Missouri Western (MIAA) 35 Concordia (MN) (NSIC) 23
December 2, 2006 Pittsburg State (MIAA) 35 Bemidji State (NSIC) 27
December 1, 2007 Missouri Western (MIAA) 20 Wayne State (NE) (NSIC) 13
December 6, 2008 Augustana (SD) (NSIC) 37 Missouri Western (MIAA) 16
December 5, 2009 Missouri Western (MIAA) 34 Augustana (SD) (NSIC) 21
December 4, 2010 Pittsburg State (MIAA) 13 Concordia (MN) (NSIC) 9
December 3, 2011 Minnesota State (NSIC) 28 Northeastern State (Ind.)+ 14
December 1, 2012 Winona State (NSIC) 41 Lindenwood (MIAA) 21
December 7, 2013 Pittsburg State (MIAA) 90 Southwest Minnesota State (NSIC) 28
December 6, 2014 Sioux Falls (NSIC) 42 Central Oklahoma (MIAA) 10
December 5, 2015 Minnesota–Duluth (NSIC) 30 Fort Hays State (MIAA) 22
December 3, 2016 Bemidji State (NSIC) 36 Washburn (MIAA) 23
December 2, 2017 Central Missouri (MIAA) 38 Minnesota–Duluth (NSIC) 28
December 1, 2018 Missouri S&T (GLVC) 51 Minnesota State–Moorhead (NSIC) 16
December 7, 2019 Nebraska-Kearney (MIAA) 50 Winona State (NSIC) 33

+ - Northeastern State, an independent already admitted to the MIAA for 2012, received the conference's bowl bid for 2011

Appearances by team

This list is for appearances in the Mineral Water Bowl during its years as a postseason NCAA Division II game (2000 through 2019).

Rank Team Appearances Record
1 Missouri Western 6 4–2
2 Winona State 4 2–2
3 Concordia (MN) 3 0–3
3 Minnesota–Duluth 3 1–2
3 Pittsburg State 3 3–0
T5 Augustana (SD) 2 1–1
T5 Bemidji State 2 1–1
T5 Central Missouri 2 2–0
T5 Washburn 2 1–1
T9 Central Oklahoma 1 0–1
T9 Emporia State 1 1–0
T9 Fort Hays State 1 0–1
T9 Lindenwood 1 0–1
T9 Minnesota State 1 1–0
T9 Minnesota State-Moorhead 1 0–1
T9 Missouri S&T 1 1–0
T9 Nebraska-Kearney 1 1–0
T9 Northeastern State 1 0–1
T9 Northern State 1 0–1
T9 Sioux Falls 1 1–0
T9 Southwest Minnesota State 1 0–1
T9 Wayne State (NE) 1 0–1

References

  1. ^ "SPA High Wins the Mineral Water Bowl". Sedalia Democrat. November 26, 1948. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Kirksville Has Turned Down Three Bowl Bids". Maryville Daily Forum. November 13, 1952. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "Club Plans Revival of Mineral Water Bowl". Columbia Daily Tribune. October 20, 1954. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  4. ^ "Mineral Bowl Halted; Committee Cites Interest, Attendance". Wichita Eagle. October 28, 1976. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  5. ^ "Juco bowl back". Kansas City Star. April 29, 1992. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  6. ^ "MIAA reaches agreement with Mineral Water Bowl". St. Joseph News-Press. January 13, 2000. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  7. ^ https://www.excelsiorspringsstandard.com/sports/mineral-water-bowl-no-go-2020-return-21-possible 27 November 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2023
  8. ^ "The Mineral Water Bowl committee has announced that the 2021 Bowl game has been cancelled". Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  9. ^ https://www.d2football.com/forum/forum/football/super-region-4/nsic/705398-mineral-water-bowl post #13, 27 October 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2023

External links