The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City Convention Hall in 1964. Since 1965, the game has been held at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. Because of the scheduling of the bowl game near the end of the calendar year, no game was played during calendar years 2008 or 2015, while two games were played in calendar years 2010 and 2016.
The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tulsa (TU) had many unofficial team nicknames including Kendallites, Presbyterians, Tulsans, Tigers, Orange and Black, and Yellow Jackets. The name "Golden Tornadoes" was chosen by TU football coach H.M. Archer (1922–24) based on new gold and black uniforms and a remark made during practice of the team "roaring through opponents". However, it was quickly discovered that the same name had been chosen in 1917 by Georgia Tech. Archer then substituted the term "hurricane" for "tornado" and a team vote prior to leaving for the game against Texas A&M confirmed the official nickname as "Golden Hurricane".
Brent Guy is an American college football coach and former player. Guy served as the defensive coordinator for Florida International University. Guy also served as head football coach at Utah State University from 2005 to 2008, compiling an overall record of nine wins and 38 losses.
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football program represents the University of Tulsa in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Tulsa has competed in the American Athletic Conference since the 2014 season and was previously a member of Conference USA (C-USA). The team is led by head coach Kevin Wilson. Tulsa plays its home games at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The University of Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of all schools that participate at the FBS level.
The 2008 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 63rd year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by first-year head football coach, Kevin Sumlin whose previous position was as co-offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma Sooners. He replaced Art Briles. The team played its home games at Robertson Stadium, a 32,000-person capacity stadium on-campus in Houston. Competing against the Air Force Falcons in the 2008 Armed Forces Bowl, the Cougars won their first bowl game since 1980, and broke the longest current bowl game losing streak in Division I FBS football at that time. In addition, Houston defeated two nationally ranked opponents, which the Cougars hadn't achieved since their 1984 season.
The 2008 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. and plays their home games in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The team was coached by Skip Holtz, who was in his fifth year with the program.
The 2009 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season and played their home games in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The team was coached by Skip Holtz, who was in his fifth and final year with the program. The 2009 Pirates were defending their first ever Conference USA Football Championship.
The 2005 Liberty Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Fresno State Bulldogs and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane played on December 31, 2005, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. In a closely contested game that went back and forth, Tulsa defeated Fresno State, 31–24. It was the 47th time the Liberty Bowl had been played, and was the final game of the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams. With sponsorship from AutoZone, the game was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2010 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Hurricane, led by fourth-year head coach Todd Graham, were members of Conference USA (C-USA) in the West Division and played their home games at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium, also known simply as Chapman Stadium. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in C-USA to claim a share of the west division title. However, due to their loss to SMU, they did not represent the division in the 2010 Conference USA Championship Game. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl, where they defeated Hawaii, 62–35. On January 9, 2011, Chad Morris left to fill the offensive coordinator job at Clemson University. On January 10, Todd Graham announced he was leaving Tulsa to take the head coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh.
The 2011 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mustangs were led by fourth year head coach June Jones and played their home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. They are a member of the West Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in C-USA to finish in third place in the West Division. They were invited to the BBVA Compass Bowl where they defeated Pittsburgh 28–6.
The 2011 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Wave football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Hurricane were led by first-year head coach Bill Blankenship and played their home games at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They finished the season 8–5, 7–1 in C-USA play to finish in second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl, where they were defeated by BYU, 21–24.
The 2005 Conference USA Football Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 3, 2005, at Citrus Bowl in Orlando. This was the 1st Conference USA Championship Game and determined the 2005 champion of the Conference USA. The game featured the UCF Golden Knights, champions of the East division, and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, champions of the West division.
The 2005 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Steve Kragthorpe. They played home games at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma and competed in the West Division of Conference USA.
The 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, the fifth edition of the game formerly known as the St. Petersburg Bowl, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 21, 2012 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, as part of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season.
The 2012 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game held on December 31, 2012, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 54th edition of the Liberty Bowl began at 2:30 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It featured the Iowa State Cyclones from the Big 12 Conference against the Conference USA champion Tulsa Golden Hurricane. It was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. With sponsorship from AutoZone, the game was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2013 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Bill Blankenship and played their home games at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium. This was Tulsa's final season as a member of Conference USA (C-USA). Tulsa moved to the American Athletic Conference the following year. Tulsa had an overall record of 3–9 on the season with a 2–6 mark in conference to finish in sixth place in the C-USA West Division.
The 2013 Conference USA football season is an NCAA football season that was played from August 2013 through January 2014. The 2013 football season marked the 19th season of the conference's existence and 18th of football competition; although C-USA was established in 1995, it did not begin football competition until 1996.
The 2013 Conference USA Football Championship Game, which determined the 2013 football champion of Conference USA (C-USA), was played at noon Eastern Standard Time on December 7 at Rice Stadium in Houston. The game featured the winners of the conference's East division, the Marshall Thundering Herd, and the winners of the West division, the Rice Owls.
The 2016 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Hurricane played their home games at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and competed in the West Division of American Athletic Conference (AAC). They were led by second-year head coach Philip Montgomery. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in America Athletic play to finish in second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Miami Beach Bowl where they defeated Central Michigan.
The 2017 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Hurricane played their home games at the Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Philip Montgomery. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in AAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.
