The Cotton Bowl Classic has always been one of the most popular playoff bowl games in college football in the United States. First formed in 1937, the Cotton Bowl Classic has served as a member of the Bowl Coalition from 1992 to 1994. Since then, they have joined the College Football Playoffs (CFP) in 2014. The first Cotton Bowl game was played on March 1, 1937, and featured TCU against Marquette.
Since the inception of the Cotton Bowl Classic in 1937, 88 editions of the game have already been played over the years, as of January 2025. The Cotton Bowl Classic has been associated with the Southwest Conference (SWC) from 1941 to 1995, the Big 12 Conference from 1997 to 2014, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) from 1999 to 2014. The games are hosted at the AT&T Stadium located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The 2025 edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic game will see the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes going head-to-head against each other on January 10, 2025.
List of Cotton Bowl Classic Winners Year by Year
There have been 88 editions of the Cotton Bowl Classic games played between 1937 to 2023. The first game saw the TCU defeating Marquette while the most recent game in 2023 saw Missouri beat Ohio State. The following table is an account of all the games that have been played in the Cotton Bowl Classic games along with the winners and losers from the beginning till December 2023 -
| Date played | Winning team | Losing team | Attnd. | ||
| January 1, 1937 | No. 16 TCU | 16 | No. 20 Marquette | 6 | 17,000 |
| January 1, 1938 | Rice | 28 | Colorado | 14 | 37,000 |
| January 2, 1939 | Saint Mary's (CA) | 20 | No. 11 Texas Tech | 13 | 40,000 |
| January 1, 1940 | Clemson | 6 | Boston College | 3 | 20,000 |
| January 1, 1941 | No. 6 Texas A&M | 13 | No. 12 Fordham | 12 | 45,500 |
| January 1, 1942 | No. 20 Alabama | 29 | No. 9 Texas A&M | 21 | 38,000 |
| January 1, 1943 | No. 11 Texas | 14 | Georgia Tech | 7 | 36,000 |
| January 1, 1944 | No. 14 Texas | 7 | Randolph Field | 7 | 15,000 |
| January 1, 1945 | Oklahoma A&M | 34 | TCU | 0 | 37,000 |
| January 1, 1946 | No. 10 Texas | 40 | Missouri | 27 | 45,000 |
| January 1, 1947 | No. 8 LSU | 0 | No. 16 Arkansas | 0 | 38,000 |
| January 1, 1948 | No. 10 SMU | 13 | No. 18 Penn State | 13 | 43,000 |
| January 1, 1949 | No. 10 SMU | 21 | No. 9 Oregon | 13 | 69,000 |
| January 2, 1950 | No. 5 Rice | 27 | No. 16 North Carolina | 13 | 75,347 |
| January 1, 1951 | No. 4 Tennessee | 20 | No. 3 Texas | 14 | 75,349 |
| January 1, 1952 | No. 15 Kentucky | 20 | No. 11 TCU | 7 | 75,347 |
| January 1, 1953 | No. 10 Texas | 16 | No. 8 Tennessee | 0 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1954 | No. 6 Rice | 28 | No. 13 Alabama | 6 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1955 | Georgia Tech | 14 | No. 10 Arkansas | 6 | 75,504 |
| January 2, 1956 | No. 10 Ole Miss | 14 | No. 6 TCU | 13 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1957 | No. 14 TCU | 28 | No. 8 Syracuse | 27 | 68,000 |
| January 1, 1958 | No. 5 Navy | 20 | No. 8 Rice | 7 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1959 | No. 10 TCU | 0 | No. 6 Air Force | 0 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1960 | No. 1 Syracuse | 23 | No. 4 Texas | 14 | 75,504 |
| January 2, 1961 | No. 10 Duke | 7 | No. 7 Arkansas | 6 | 74,000 |
| January 1, 1962 | No. 3 Texas | 12 | No. 5 Ole Miss | 7 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1963 | No. 7 LSU | 13 | No. 4 Texas | 0 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1964 | No. 1 Texas | 28 | No. 2 Navy | 6 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1965 | No. 2 Arkansas | 10 | No. 6 Nebraska | 7 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1966 | LSU | 14 | No. 2 Arkansas | 7 | 76,200 |
| December 31, 1966 | No. 4 Georgia | 24 | No. 10 SMU | 9 | 75,400 |
| January 1, 1968 | Texas A&M | 20 | No. 8 Alabama | 16 | 75,504 |
| January 1, 1969 | No. 5 Texas | 36 | No. 8 Tennessee | 13 | 72,000 |
| January 1, 1970 | No. 1 Texas | 21 | No. 9 Notre Dame | 17 | 73,000 |
| January 1, 1971 | No. 6 Notre Dame | 24 | No. 1 Texas | 11 | 72,000 |
| January 1, 1972 | No. 10 Penn State | 30 | No. 12 Texas | 6 | 72,000 |
| January 1, 1973 | No. 7 Texas | 17 | No. 4 Alabama | 13 | 72,000 |
| January 1, 1974 | No. 12 Nebraska | 19 | No. 8 Texas | 3 | 67,500 |
| January 1, 1975 | No. 7 Penn State | 41 | No. 12 Baylor | 20 | 67,500 |
| January 1, 1976 | No. 18 Arkansas | 31 | No. 12 Georgia | 10 | 74,500 |
| January 1, 1977 | No. 6 Houston | 30 | No. 4 Maryland | 21 | 54,500 |
| January 2, 1978 | No. 5 Notre Dame | 38 | No. 1 Texas | 10 | 76,601 |
| January 1, 1979 | No. 10 Notre Dame | 35 | No. 9 Houston | 34 | 32,500 |
| January 1, 1980 | No. 8 Houston | 17 | No. 7 Nebraska | 14 | 72,032 |
| January 1, 1981 | No. 9 Alabama | 30 | No. 6 Baylor | 2 | 74,281 |
| January 1, 1982 | No. 6 Texas | 14 | No. 3 Alabama | 12 | 73,243 |
| January 1, 1983 | No. 4 SMU | 7 | No. 6 Pittsburgh | 3 | 60,359 |
| January 2, 1984 | No. 7 Georgia | 10 | No. 2 Texas | 9 | 67,891 |
| January 1, 1985 | No. 8 Boston College | 45 | Houston | 28 | 56,522 |
| January 1, 1986 | No. 11 Texas A&M | 36 | No. 16 Auburn | 16 | 73,137 |
| January 1, 1987 | No. 11 Ohio State | 28 | No. 8 Texas A&M | 12 | 74,188 |
| January 1, 1988 | No. 13 Texas A&M | 35 | No. 12 Notre Dame | 10 | 73,006 |
| January 2, 1989 | No. 9 UCLA | 17 | No. 8 Arkansas | 3 | 74,304 |
| January 1, 1990 | No. 8 Tennessee | 31 | No. 10 Arkansas | 27 | 74,358 |
| January 1, 1991 | No. 4 Miami (FL) | 46 | No. 3 Texas | 3 | 73,521 |
| January 1, 1992 | No. 5 Florida State | 10 | No. 9 Texas A&M | 2 | 73,728 |
| January 1, 1993 | No. 5 Notre Dame | 28 | No. 4 Texas A&M | 3 | 71,615 |
| January 1, 1994 | No. 4 Notre Dame | 24 | No. 7 Texas A&M | 21 | 69,855 |
| January 2, 1995 | No. 21 USC | 55 | Texas Tech | 14 | 70,218 |
| January 1, 1996 | No. 7 Colorado | 38 | No. 12 Oregon | 6 | 58,214 |
| January 1, 1997 | No. 5 BYU | 19 | No. 14 Kansas State | 15 | 71,928 |
| January 1, 1998 | No. 5 UCLA | 29 | No. 20 Texas A&M | 23 | 59,215 |
| January 1, 1999 | No. 20 Texas | 38 | No. 25 Mississippi State | 11 | 72,611 |
| January 1, 2000 | No. 24 Arkansas | 27 | No. 14 Texas | 6 | 72,723 |
| January 1, 2001 | No. 11 Kansas State | 35 | No. 21 Tennessee | 21 | 63,465 |
| January 1, 2002 | No. 10 Oklahoma | 10 | Arkansas | 3 | 72,955 |
| January 1, 2003 | No. 9 Texas | 35 | LSU | 20 | 70,817 |
| January 2, 2004 | No. 16 Ole Miss | 31 | No. 21 Oklahoma State | 28 | 73,928 |
| January 1, 2005 | No. 15 Tennessee | 38 | No. 22 Texas A&M | 7 | 75,704 |
| January 2, 2006 | No. 8 Alabama | 13 | No. 20 Texas Tech | 10 | 74,222 |
| January 1, 2007 | No. 10 Auburn | 17 | No. 22 Nebraska | 14 | 66,777 |
| January 1, 2008 | No. 7 Missouri | 38 | No. 25 Arkansas | 7 | 73,114 |
| January 2, 2009 | No. 20 Ole Miss | 47 | No. 8 Texas Tech | 34 | 88,175 |
| January 2, 2010 | Ole Miss | 21 | No. 21 Oklahoma State | 7 | 77,928 |
| January 7, 2011 | No. 11 LSU | 41 | No. 18 Texas A&M | 24 | 83,514 |
| January 6, 2012 | No. 7 Arkansas | 29 | No. 11 Kansas State | 16 | 80,956 |
| January 4, 2013 | No. 9 Texas A&M | 41 | No. 11 Oklahoma | 13 | 87,025 |
| January 3, 2014 | No. 9 Missouri | 41 | No. 13 Oklahoma State | 31 | 72,690 |
| January 1, 2015 | No. 7 Michigan State | 42 | No. 4 Baylor | 41 | 71,464 |
| December 31, 2015 | No. 2 Alabama | 38 | No. 3 Michigan State | 0 | 82,812 |
| January 2, 2017 | No. 8 Wisconsin | 24 | No. 12 Western Michigan | 16 | 59,615 |
| December 29, 2017 | No. 5 Ohio State | 24 | No. 8 USC | 7 | 67,510 |
| December 29, 2018 | No. 2 Clemson | 30 | No. 3 Notre Dame | 3 | 72,183 |
| December 28, 2019 | No. 13 Penn State | 53 | No. 15 Memphis | 39 | 54,828 |
| December 30, 2020 | No. 8 Oklahoma | 55 | No. 10 Florida | 20 | 17,323 |
| December 31, 2021 | No. 1 Alabama | 27 | No. 4 Cincinnati | 6 | 76,313 |
| January 2, 2023 | No. 14 Tulane | 46 | No. 8 USC | 45 | 55,329 |
| December 29, 2023 | No. 9 Missouri | 14 | No. 7 Ohio State | 3 | 70,114 |
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FAQs on Cotton Bowl Classic
A. The 2025 edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic is taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States.
A. The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns will play in the 2025 Cotton Bowl Classic.
A. The Arkansas Razorbacks and the Nebraska Cornhuskers played in the 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic game. The Arkansas Razorbacks won the game 10-7.
A. Yes, the Cotton Bowl Classic for the 2024 season will be played on January 10, 2025.
A. Yes, Texas beat Notre Dame 21-17 in the 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic game.
