Baylor has accepted an invitation to play in the 2016 Motel 6 Cactus Bowl, which will be held Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 9:15 p.m. CT at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz. ESPN will televise the contest to a national audience.
Baylor will play in a program-record seventh straight bowl and face Mountain West member Boise State (10-2, 6-2) in the contest.
“I am very pleased that our football team, and especially our seniors, will end the season by playing in a bowl for a program record seventh-straight year,” Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said. “This is a great reward for their hard work and dedication, and we look forward to playing a strong Boise State team in the Cactus Bowl.”
The Bears opened the season with six consecutive wins, before losing their final six contests to notch a record of 6-6 overall and a 3-6 mark in Big 12 Conference play.
Boise State is receiving votes in the AP Top 25 and the Amway Coaches polls, after only losing at Wyoming (30-28 and Air Force (27-20) and winning their remaining 10 games by an average of18.2 points.
Baylor is allotted 6,000 tickets for the 2016 Cactus Bowl. The tickets, which are priced from $35-$140 each, may be purchased by Baylor Bear Foundation members and 2016 season ticket holders online at www.BaylorBears.com/tickets, by calling the Baylor Athletic Ticket Office at 254-710-1000 or in person at the Ferrell Center box office from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Bear Foundation members and season ticket holders must place their orders by 5 p.m. on Dec. 6.
If any tickets remain from the Baylor allotment, they will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 7, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Baylor fans interested in travel packages for Baylor's trip to Phoenix for the 2016 Cactus Bowl may sign up for information with Anthony Travel. Travel options will be sent via email from Baylor's travel partner as soon as they become available.
To stay current on all things Baylor Football, follow the team on Twitter: @BUFootball.
BAYLOR FOOTBALL BOWL NOTES
• Baylor is playing in a bowl game for a seventh straight season for the first time in school history.
• Baylor earned its second-ever Cactus Bowl berth (first appearance was in the 1991 Copper Bowl – since 1989 the game has changed names five times).
• Baylor is 11-11 all-time in bowl games and 0-0 under head coach Jim Grobe.
• Baylor is 0-3 all-time in the state of Arizona and 0-2 in bowl games in the Grand Canyon State.
• Baylor’s other two bowl games in the state included: 1991 Copper Bowl (24-0 loss to Indiana) and 2014 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (52-42 loss to UCF).
• Baylor’s last non-bowl and only other game in the state was a 34-13 loss at Arizona State in 1990.
• Baylor and Boise State will meet for the first time.
• Baylor is 16-4 all-time against current Mountain West Conference members.
• Baylor is 1-0 against current MWC members in bowl games with a win against Utah State, 24-9, in the 1961 Gotham Bowl.
• Baylor last played a current Mountain West school on Sept. 14, 2002 – a 22-0 loss at New Mexico.
• Baylor has won 56 games over the past 5-plus years, as well as 2 Big 12 titles and 3 bowl games.
• In the last 55 games Baylor has just 13 losses, 7 to top 15-ranked teams and 8 away from home.
• Baylor is 7-2 in the month of December since 2011.
• Baylor has won 7 of its last 10 neutral-site games.
• Baylor has won 19 of its last 28 games played outside of Waco.
• Baylor’s offense has the most 50-point games in the FBS since 2013 with 18.
• Baylor has topped 500 yards of offense 57 times in 77 games since 2011, which leads the nation.
• Baylor has topped 400 yards of offense 72 times in 77 games since 2011, which is tied with Oregon for tops in the nation.
• Baylor is the most successful team in Texas since 2011 with a win percentage of .727 (56-21).
QUICK FACTS ABOUT CACTUS BOWL
• Originally titled the Copper Bowl, the game was born in Tucson, Ariz., in 1989.
• The bowl moved to Phoenix from 2000-05, Tempe from 2006-14 and back to Phoenix in 2015 (game will be played at Chase Field, home of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks since 1998).
• In the College Football Playoff era, the bowl will match teams from the Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences.
• Big 12 teams have competed in the bowl on 14 previous occasions with an 11-3 record.
• West Virginia defeated Arizona State, 43-42, in last year’s Motel 6 Cactus Bowl.
