This Houston Chronicle story reports on the intent of Houston Bowl officials to bid on being the host for a fifth Bowl Championship Series college football game to be added after the 2006 season.
This is a new initiative for Houston, which has never had much of a college football bowl heritage. The old Bluebonnet Bowl had a rather uneventful run from 1959-1987 and always struggled for sponsorship support and attendance. The newer Houston Bowl has been around for the past several years, but has paid the minimum amount to the participant teams, so it has not moved above the lowest tier of bowl games. However, with the wide array of new facilities that Houston recently used in successfully hosting Super Bowl XXXVIII, Houston now has proven that it has the capability of hosting major events such as a BCS Bowl game. Given Texas’ rich history and tradition in college football, Houston would be a logical choice for hosting one of college football’s premier bowl games.