Major college football bowl game announces return for 2026 season

A college football bowl game has announced it will continue into the 2026 season.

BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) and head coach Kalani Sitake | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The 2025 college football postseason officially concluded with No. 1 Indiana's defeat of No. 10 Miami (27-21) in the College Football Playoff national championship game. The College Football Playoff featured 12 teams and officially began on Dec. 19 when No. 9 Alabama won at No. 8 Oklahoma (34-24).

In addition to the 11 games that comprise the College Football Playoff, FBS programs had the opportunity to accept bids to play in bowl games across the country. These began on Dec. 13, 2025, with Washington's defeat of Boise State (38-10) in the Bucked Up LA Bowl and concluded on Jan. 2 with Wake Forest's win over Mississippi State (43-29) in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina.

With developments such as the College Football Playoff's continuous expansion, conference realignment and the NCAA transfer portal, the fight to keep bowl games rewarding and relevant has become an uphill battle.

The aforementioned LA Bowl has ceased to exist due to the scattering of former Pac-12 programs into the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 and subsequent acquisitions of Mountain West programs by the Pac-12.

One bowl that is not going out with the 2025 season is the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The bowl announced its 2026 return during the College Football Playoff national championship game, a return that is in large part due to consistently high ratings among non-College Football Playoff games.

Pop-Tarts mascots celebrate with BYU Cougars after beating Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Pop-Tarts Bowl | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

While the Pop-Tarts Bowl is a fairly recent addition to the college football postseason, the game itself has gone by multiple different names prior to its current one. The game has been played in Orlando, Florida, for 26 years and has held the names Cheez-It, Camping World, Russell Athletic, Champs Sports and Tangerine Bowl in its time in Orlando.

Before it moved to Orlando, the game was played in Miami, Florida, for just over a decade. The names of the bowls in those years included MicronPC, CarQuest and Blockbuster Bowl.

In addition to leaning heavily into its sponsorship, the previous three Pop-Tarts Bowl matchups have consistently produced competitive football games. Kansas State triumphed over NC State (28-19) in 2023, a game decided by a Wildcats scoring drive and subsequent interception in the last three minutes.

Iowa State and Miami battled to a one-point result in the 2024 installment of the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Hurricanes quarterback and future No. 1 overall NFL draft choice Cam Ward opted out of the second half, slowing Miami's offensive production. Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht scored a touchdown in the final minute to secure the 42-41 victory.

Georgia Tech held an 11-point lead over BYU going into the fourth quarter of the 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl. The Cougars scored the game's final 15 points, taking the lead with two minutes remaining in the game. The Yellow Jackets reached the BYU 18-yard line before throwing an interception with six seconds to play, sealing BYU's 25-21 victory.