NCAA Division I Bowl Game
College football bowl game
The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played in December of each year since 2015 in Orlando, Florida . It is currently held at Camping World Stadium , and in the past has been held at FBC Mortgage Stadium and Exploria Stadium . The Cure Bowl is so named to promote awareness and research of breast cancer , with proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation . The Cure Bowl usually features teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt Conference . Since 2024, it has been sponsored by the health care employment website StaffDNA and officially known as the StaffDNA Cure Bowl ; previous sponsors include AutoNation (2014–2018), FBC Mortgage (2019–2020), Tailgreeter (2021), Duluth Trading Company (2022), and Avocados from Mexico (2023).
History
The game has tie-ins with the American Athletic Conference (The American) and the Sun Belt Conference . The inaugural game took place on December 19, 2015,[ 2] featuring the San Jose State Spartans from the Mountain West Conference and the Georgia State Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference . A Mountain West team was invited to the bowl due to The American not having enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the tie-in.[ 3]
During the planning stages, it was originally proposed to hold the game at Bright House Networks Stadium (now known as FBC Mortgage Stadium ) on the campus of UCF .[ 4] However, it was later decided to hold the game at the newly-renovated Camping World Stadium in downtown Orlando, joining the Camping World Bowl and the Citrus Bowl as annual bowl games at the venue.[ 5] The game was at held Camping World Stadium in 2015–2018 and 2020,[ 6] and at Exploria Stadium in 2019, 2021–2022.[ 7] It moved to FBC Mortgage Stadium at UCF in 2023.[ 8] It moved back to Camping World Stadium in 2024.[ 9]
The game was acquired by ESPN Events in May 2020.[ 10] The 2020 edition of the bowl, between Liberty and Coastal Carolina , became the first Cure Bowl to go to overtime.
From its inaugural playing in 2015 through 2018, the game was sponsored by AutoNation and was known as the AutoNation Cure Bowl .[ 11] In December 2019, FBC Mortgage became the new title sponsor, making the game the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl .[ 12] In December 2020, FBC Mortgage renewed its sponsorship of the bowl.[ 13] On December 2, 2021, digital marketplace Tailgreeter became the new sponsor of the bowl, making the game the Tailgreeter Cure Bowl .[ 14] On June 29, 2022, Duluth Trading Company was announced as the new title sponsor for the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl .[ 15] On October 31, 2023, Avocados From Mexico, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association , became the new title sponsor of the game.[ 16] On May 28, 2024, StaffDNA became the new title sponsor of the game.[ 17]
Game results
All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played.
Date
Winning Team
Losing Team
Venue
Attendance
Notes
December 19, 2015
San Jose State
27
Georgia State
16
Camping World Stadium
18,536
notes
December 17, 2016
Arkansas State
31
UCF
13
27,213
notes
December 16, 2017
Georgia State
27
Western Kentucky
17
19,585
notes
December 15, 2018
Tulane
41
Louisiana
24
19,066
notes
December 21, 2019
Liberty
23
Georgia Southern
16
Exploria Stadium
18,158
notes
December 26, 2020
23 Liberty
37
9 Coastal Carolina
34OT
Camping World Stadium
4,488
notes
December 17, 2021
Coastal Carolina
47
Northern Illinois
41
Exploria Stadium
9,784
notes
December 16, 2022
23 Troy
18
22 UTSA
12
11,911
notes
December 16, 2023
Appalachian State
13
Miami (OH)
9
FBC Mortgage Stadium
11,121
notes
December 20, 2024
Ohio
30
Jacksonville State
27
Camping World Stadium
10,518
notes
Source:[ 18]
MVPs
Year
MVP
Team
Position
2015
Kenny Potter
San Jose State
QB
2016
Kendall Sanders
Arkansas State
WR
2017
Conner Manning
Georgia State
QB
2018
Darius Bradwell
Tulane
RB
2019
Jessie Lemonier
Liberty
DE
2020
Malik Willis
Liberty
QB
2021
Grayson McCall
Coastal Carolina
QB
2022
KJ Robertson
Troy
LB
2023
Anderson Castle
Appalachian State
RB
2024
Parker Navarro
Ohio
QB
Source:[ 19] [ 20]
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2024 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances
Teams with a single appearance
Won (6): Appalachian State , Arkansas State , Ohio , San Jose State , Troy , Tulane
Lost (8): Georgia Southern , Jacksonville State , Louisiana , Miami (OH) , Northern Illinois , UCF , UTSA , Western Kentucky
Appearances by conference
Updated through the December 2024 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).
Conference
Record
Appearances by season
Games
W
L
Win pct.
Won
Lost
Sun Belt
9
5
4
.556
2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023
2015, 2018, 2019, 2020
MAC
3
1
2
.333
2024
2021, 2023
C-USA
3
0
3
.000
2017, 2022, 2024
Independents
2
2
0
1.000
2019, 2020
The American
2
1
1
.500
2018
2016
Mountain West
1
1
0
1.000
2015
Independent appearances: Liberty (2019, 2020)
Game records
Team
Performance vs. Opponent
Year
Most points scored
47 , Coastal Carolina vs. Northern Illinois
2021
Fewest points allowed
9 , Miami (OH) vs. Appalachian State
2023
Margin of victory
18 , Arkansas State vs. UCF
2016
First downs
29 , shared by: Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina Ohio vs. Jacksonville State
2021 2024
Total yards
516 , Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina
2021
Rushing yards
337 , Tulane vs. Louisiana
2018
Passing yards
362 , Jacksonville State vs. Ohio
2024
Most points scored (losing team)
41 , Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina
2021
Most points scored (both teams)
88 , Coastal Carolina vs. Northern Illinois
2021
Fewest yards allowed
223 , UCF vs. Arkansas State
2016
Fewest rushing yards allowed
-2 , Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State
2017
Fewest passing yards allowed
44 , Miami (OH) vs. Appalachian State
2023
Individual
Player, Team
Year
All-Purpose Yards
227 , Tyler Ervin (San Jose State)
2015
Points scored
24 , shared by:Malik Willis (Liberty)Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina) Parker Navarro (Ohio)
2020 2021 2024
Passing touchdowns
4 , Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina)
2021
Rushing yards
180 , Rashad Amos (Miami (OH))
2023
Passing yards
362 , Tyler Huff (Jacksonville State)
2024
Receiving yards
184 , Cam Vaughn (Jacksonville State)
2024
Receptions
13 , Jaivon Heiligh (Coastal Carolina)
2020
Rushing touchdowns
4 , Malik Willis (Liberty)
2020
Receiving touchdowns
3 , Kendall Sanders (Arkansas State)
2016
Tackles
14 , shared by: Demeitre Brim (UCF) Silas Kelly (Coastal Carolina) Carlton Martial (Troy)
2016 2021 2022
Sacks
2.5 , Curley Young Jr. (Jacksonville State)
2024
Interceptions
1 , by multiple players—most recent: Blake Leake (Ohio) Derek Carter (Jacksonville State)
2024
Long Plays
Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent
Year
Touchdown run
60 yds. , Braydon Bennett (Coastal Carolina)
2021
Touchdown pass
75 yds. , shared by:Justice Hansen to Kendall Sanders (Arkansas State) Tyler Huff to Cam Vaughn (Jacksonville State)
2016 2024
Kickoff return
41 yds. , Trayvon Rudolph (Northern Illinois)
2018
Punt return
85 yds. , Tyler Ervin (San Jose State)
2015
Interception return
63 yds. , Bralen Trahan (Louisiana)
2018
Fumble return
8 yds. , Dre Pinckney (Coastal Carolina)
2021
Punt
70 yds. , Wil Lutz (Georgia State)
2015
Field goal
46 yds. , Alex Probert (Liberty)
2019
Source:[ 21]
The game was initially televised by CBS Sports Network , making it one of the few bowl games to not be televised by an ESPN network. Following the bowl's acquisition by ESPN Events in 2020, broadcasting moved to ESPN.[ 22]
See also
References
^ "2019 Bowl Schedule" . collegefootballpoll.com . Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
^ "Citrus Bowl to host Cure Bowl in 2015" . WESH.com . Hearst Television . 14 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-14 .
^ "AAC, Sun Belt to meet in 2015 Cure Bowl on CBS Sports Network" . CBSSports.com . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 2014-10-23 .
^ Washington, Chad (April 14, 2014). "Report: Sun Belt to be tie-in to new bowl game in Orlando" . The Daily Advertiser . Lafayette, Louisiana . Retrieved December 6, 2019 .
^ Murschel, Matt (April 14, 2014). "Orlando set to host third bowl game featuring teams from AAC, Sun Belt" . Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved April 14, 2014 .
^ "Cure Bowl to be Played Saturday, December 26 on ESPN" . curebowl.com . Retrieved October 30, 2020 .
^ Murschel, Matt (May 1, 2019). "Orlando City Stadium to host Cure Bowl" . Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved May 1, 2019 .
^ "2023 Cure Bowl Moves to FBC Mortgage Stadium" . curebowl.com . September 27, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2024 .
^ "2024 StaffDNA Cure Bowl Scheduled for December 20 on ESPN" . curebowl.com . June 6, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024 .
^ "ESPN Events Reveals 13-Game College Football Bowl Schedule for 2020-21" . ESPN Press Room U.S . 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-12-10 .
^ "AutoNation signs on as title sponsor of Cure Bowl" . Retrieved October 24, 2014 .
^ "FBC Mortgage Named Title Sponsor of the Cure Bowl and March 2 Cure" . CureBowl.com (Press release). December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019 .
^ "FBC Mortgage Continues as Title Sponsor of the 2020 Cure Bowl" . CureBowl.com (Press release). December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020 .
^ "Tailgreeter Named Title Sponsor of 2021 Cure Bowl in Orlando" . Retrieved December 2, 2021 .
^ "Duluth Trading Company Named Title Sponsor of 2022 Cure Bowl in Orlando" . espnevents.com (Press release). June 29, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022 .
^ "Avocados From Mexico® Named Title Sponsor of 2023 Cure Bowl in Orlando" . Retrieved October 31, 2023 .
^ "StaffDNA Named Title Sponsor of Cure Bowl in Orlando" . Retrieved May 28, 2024 .
^ "FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl" (PDF) . Bowl/All Star Game Records . NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
^ "The History" . curebowl.com . Retrieved December 16, 2023 .
^ Keegan III, Robert (December 20, 2024). "Football: Ohio secures record 11th win with 30-27 Cure Bowl victory" . The Post . Athens County, Ohio . Retrieved December 20, 2024 .
^ "Cure Bowl Records" (PDF) . 2019 Media Prospectus . Orlando Sports Foundation. pp. 22– 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via curebowl.com.
^ "Bowl season is going to be an even more ESPN-centric affair this year" . Awful Announcing . 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2020-12-08 .
External links