Silicon Valley Football Classic

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Silicon Valley Football Classic (defunct)
SiliconValleyFootballClassicLogo.png
Stadium Spartan Stadium
Location San Jose, California
Operated2000–2004
Conference tie-ins WAC, Pac-10
Succeeded by Poinsettia Bowl

The Silicon Valley Football Classic (SVFC), sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley Bowl or Silicon Valley Classic, was an NCAA-certified Division I-A post-season college football bowl game that was played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, from 2000 to 2004. It had a contractual tie-in with the Western Athletic Conference and the Pac-10. The bowl was initially televised on Fox Sports Net and later moved to ESPN2.

Contents

History

Creation

The city of San Jose, San Jose State University President Robert Caret, and the Western Athletic Conference proposed the Silicon Valley Bowl for San Jose in 1999. [1] [2] Caret and other organizers envisioned that with the technology boom of the time, revenue from the bowl game and sponsorships from local technology companies would help fund a $25 million expansion of Spartan Stadium, when then had a capacity around 31,000, to 50,000 seats. [1] [2] [3]

The NCAA approved the bowl game on April 29, 1999. Participating schools would each receive a $1.2 million guaranteed payout. Due to Spartan Stadium having fewer than 50,000 seats, there was no requirement for schools to purchase a minimum number of tickets. Companies expressing written commitments to sponsor the bowl game included Cisco Systems, Comerica Bank, Hewlett-Packard, and Knight Ridder. [4]

2000

The inaugural Silicon Valley Bowl on December 31, 2000 was a 37–34 win for Mountain West Conference team Air Force over Fresno State of the WAC. [5] Fresno State trailed 34–7 at halftime before going on a 24–3 run in the second half. But with 14 seconds left, Fresno State failed on a fake field goal attempt from the Air Force 16. [6]

Attendance was 26,542, and pop group Destiny's Child performed in the halftime show. However, the bowl lacked a corporate sponsor. [6]

2001

With the bowl game still lacking a corporate sponsor, the San Jose City Council approved $150,000 in funding for the bowl's nonprofit organization in June 2001. [7]

The 2001 Silicon Valley Football Classic, again played on December 31, had Michigan State of the Big Ten Conference upset no. 20 (AP) Fresno State 44–35. [8] [9] The game was a near sellout, with 30,456 in attendance. [10] The game featured future NFL players including Fresno State quarterback David Carr, Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker, Michigan State wide receiver Charles Rogers, Michigan State running back TJ Duckett, and Michigan State wide receiver Bernard Berrian. In the 2002 NFL draft, Carr would be the first overall pick and Duckett the 18th overall. [11]

A report in the December 23 San Jose Mercury News found that Silicon Valley Football Classic organizers overstated the economic value the bowl game brought to the city. Additionally, Air Force and Michigan State reported that they lost money participating in the Silicon Valley Classic. [12]

2002

After two straight years of the Silicon Valley Football Classic having the lowest ratings of Division I-A bowl games, Fox Sports Net withdrew from its five-year contract with the bowl in November 2002. This followed continued financial problems for the Silicon Valley Football Classic, namely the third straight year lacking a title sponsor and two companies that funded the 2000 and 2001 games, Knight Ridder and Palm Inc., deciding not to return. [13]

In 2002 only 10,132 fans attended the third Silicon Valley Bowl, which featured Fresno State and Georgia Tech. The 2002 game was hampered by bad weather and a lack of fans compared to the previous years. Fresno State defeated Georgia Tech 30–21.

2003

In 2003, the UCLA Bruins accepted an invitation to the 2003 game against Fresno State. Attendance for the game was 20,126 fans, which was approximately 64% of stadium capacity. After the 2003 game, the NCAA instituted new rules for the 2004–05 Bowl Season stating that stadiums had to draw at least 70% of their capacity for bowl games in order to continue hosting them. [14]

2004

The 2004 game was the final edition of the Silicon Valley Football Classic. Although the bowl again had tie-ins with the WAC and Pac-10, neither conference had enough eligible teams available. Silicon Valley Bowl officials invited Northern Illinois of the MAC and Troy of the Sun Belt as at-large teams. [2] Both schools were offered no upfront payment to participate and were responsible for buying 8,000 tickets worth a total of $720,000. [15]

Game attendance was a series low at 5,494, and a power outage caused a 20-minute delay of kickoff. [3] The city of San Jose and Hewlett-Packard each paid $100,000 to be named as primary bowl sponsors, and the WAC made a $300,000 commitment as well. The Classic also spent very little money on advertising. Despite the low attendance numbers, it was estimated the bowl netted a $200,000 profit in 2004. [14]

On April 20, 2005, the NCAA decided not to renew the license of the Silicon Valley Football Classic, due to low attendance and a limit of 28 bowl games. [15] [3] The SVFC was replaced by the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, California.

Game results

Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played.

DateWinnerLoserAttendance [16] Notes
December 31, 2000 Air Force 37 Fresno State 3426,542 notes
December 31, 2001 Michigan State 44#20 Fresno State 3530,456 notes
December 31, 2002 Fresno State 30 Georgia Tech 2110,132 notes
December 30, 2003 Fresno State 17 UCLA 920,126 notes
December 30, 2004 Northern Illinois 34 Troy 2121,456 notes

Note: The 2004 game featured a MAC vs. Sun Belt matchup- neither the Pac 10 or WAC was able to send a team.

Game MVPs

YearOffensive MVPPositionTeamDefensive MVPPositionTeam
2000Mike ThiessenQBAir ForceTim SkipperLBFresno State
2001 Charles Rogers WRMichigan StateNick MyersDEMichigan State
2002Rodney DavisRBFresno StateJason StewartDLFresno State
2003Rodney DavisRBFresno StateGarrett McIntyreDEFresno State
2004DeWhitt BettersonRBTroyLionel HickenbottomSNorthern Illinois

Most appearances

RankTeamAppearancesRecord
1 Fresno State 42–2
T2 Air Force 11–0
T2 Michigan State 11–0
T2 Northern Illinois 11–0
T2 UCLA 10–1
T2 Georgia Tech 10–1
T2 Troy 10–1

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Bergman, Ron (April 28, 1999). "Bowl game in works for San Jose". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A. Retrieved December 3, 2023– via Newsbank.
  2. 1 2 3 Emmons, Mark (December 12, 2004). "S.J. bowl must fight to survive". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on December 17, 2004. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Pollak, David (April 21, 2005). "Silicon Valley loses bowl game over empty seats". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A. Retrieved December 3, 2023– via Newsbank.
  4. ↑ Bergman, Ron (April 30, 1999). "Silicon Valley Bowl a go". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1D. Retrieved December 3, 2023– via Newsbank.
  5. ↑ "2000 Air Force Falcons Schedule and Results". Sports Reference CFB. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Purdy, Mark (January 1, 2001). "Air Force, game organizers get big victories in bowl". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A. Retrieved December 3, 2023– via Newsbank.
  7. ↑ Witt, Barry (June 26, 2001). "Taxpayers to aid bowl game". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 28, 2001. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ "2001 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". Sports Reference CFB. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  9. ↑ Ebling, Jack (January 1, 2002). "Big-play weapons lift MSU in Silicon shootout". Lansing State Journal. Archived from the original on February 11, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Michigan State 44, Fresno State 35". Michigan State University. December 31, 2001. Archived from the original on March 13, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  11. ↑ "2002 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  12. ↑ Witt, Barry (December 23, 2001). "Bowl's financial impact not as big as advertised". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1D. Retrieved December 3, 2023– via Newsbank.
  13. ↑ Witt, Barry (November 13, 2002). "S.J. bowl facing financial trouble". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on November 20, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Hamm, Andrew F. (December 13, 2004). "Sillicon Valley Classic set to score despite weak matchup". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  15. 1 2 Hamm, Andrew F. (April 20, 2005). "Silicon Valley Football Classic decertified". American City Business Journals . Archived from the original on May 14, 2005. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  16. ↑ "All-Time Bowl-Game Results And Attendance" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association . October 9, 2015. pp. 3–17. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
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