Sugar Bowl: Memorable moments, all-time history

After the creation of the Rose and Orange Bowls, Fred Digby, the sports editor for the New Orleans Item, began calling for New Orleans to create a similar experience.

In 1935, enough support had been garnered to play the first Sugar Bowl. It has been held annually since.

The bowl has a lengthy relationship with the SEC. The SEC fielded one of the bowl's teams in each year but one between 1950-95.

Of course, as with much of college football, conference realignments and the rising of different groups staging national championships have changed a lot of things. However, with the creation of the College Football Playoff in 2015, the Sugar Bowl, unless it is hosting a playoff game, will host an SEC team and a Big 12 team.

In the 2024 Sugar Bowl, a high-flying College Football Playoff Semifinal saw Washington squeeze past Texas.

HISTORY: Best walk-ons ever | Notable firsts, milestones | Records that will never be broken

Memorable moments

• In 1956, Pitt's Bobby Grier became the first African-American player in the Sugar Bowl. That same year, there was talk that Georgia Tech would not play because of Georgia governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to segregation. Georgia Tech played, and won 7-0.

• In 1968, in the midst of the Vietnam War, Pentagon officials refused to let Army accept an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, citing demands on players' time and that football was not the academy's primary mission.

• The 2006 game was played in the Georgia Dome because the Superdome had suffered so much damage from Hurricane Katrina.

• When Michigan and Virginia Tech met in the 2012 game, it was only the sixth time in bowl history that no SEC team played. Alabama and LSU played for the national title and BCS rules say conferences are allowed just two teams in BCS bowls.

• In the 2022 Sugar Bowl, Baylor represented the Big-12 defeating the SEC's Ole Miss 21-7. The game started slow, especially after Ole Miss quarterback left with a leg injury in the first quarter. However, things got exciting following a Baylor pick-six for 97 yards; the turnover was the lone score for either side in the first half, marking the longest interception return for a touchdown in New Year's Six game history. On offense, running back Abram Smith became the leading single-season rusher in Baylor history.

• The 2024 Sugar Bowl was a College Football Playoff semifinal game between No. 2 Washington and No. 3 Texas. Offensive fireworks were the story of the first half as the teams were tied 21-21 at halftime. But in the second half, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. showed why he was a Heisman Trophy finalist, as he shredded through the Texas defense. In the end, Penix threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns in the Huskies' 37-31 victory.

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