| Bowl Challenge Cup | |
| Description: | Best college football bowl record among Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences |
| Presenter: | ESPN |
| Country: | United States |
| Year: | 2002–03 |
| Most Awards: | Mountain West (5) |
| Holder: | Big Ten (2023–24) |
The Bowl Challenge Cup is a competition among NCAA college football conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly called Division I-A, based on win–loss records in the bowl games that take place annually during December and January. The winner is the conference that has the highest winning percentage, among conferences with a minimum of three teams appearing in bowl games.
The Challenge was created in 2002 by ESPN, who also occasionally refers to it as the "Bowl Cup Challenge" when promoting it.[1] Originally sponsored by Cooper Tire,[2] ESPN went several years without a sponsor; since the 2015–16 bowl season, Progressive has been the sponsor.
The ten Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) conferences that compete in the Bowl Challenge Cup are:Power Five
Former conferences that competed in the Bowl Challenge Cup were:
| + Bowl Challenge Cup champions | ||||||
| Bowl season | Conference | Win % | class=unsortable | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | Big Ten | [3] | ||||
| 2003–04 | ACC | |||||
| 2004–05 | Mountain West | [4] | ||||
| 2005–06 | ACC | < | --Ref--> | |||
| Big 12 | ||||||
| 2006–07 | Big East | |||||
| 2007–08 | Mountain West | [5] | ||||
| 2008–09 | Pacific-10 | [6] | ||||
| 2009–10 | Mountain West | [7] | ||||
| 2010–11 | Mountain West | [8] | ||||
| 2011–12 | Conference USA | < | --Ref--> | |||
| MAC | ||||||
| 2012–13 | Conference USA | |||||
| 2013–14 | SEC | |||||
| 2014–15 | Conference USA | |||||
| 2015–16 | SEC | |||||
| 2016–17 | ACC | [9] | ||||
| 2017–18 | Big Ten | |||||
| 2018–19 | Conference USA | |||||
| 2019–20 | SEC | |||||
| 2020–21 | Big 12 | [10] | ||||
| 2021–22 | Mountain West | [11] | ||||
| 2022–23 | MAC | [12] | ||||
| 2023–24 | Big Ten | [13] [14] |
| + Number of Bowl Challenge Cup championships | |||
| Conference | Times | Championships | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain West | 5 | 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2021–22 | |
| Conference USA (C-USA) | 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2018–19 | ||
| Big Ten | 3 | 2002–03, 2017–18, 2023–24 | |
| Southeastern (SEC) | 3 | 2013–14, 2015–16, 2019–20 | |
| Atlantic Coast (ACC) | 2003–04, 2005–06, 2016–17 | ||
| Big 12 | 2005–06, 2020–21 | ||
| Mid-American (MAC) | 2011–12, 2022–23 | ||
| American (Big East to 2013) | 1 | 2006–07 | |
| Pac-12 (Pacific-10 to 2010) | 1 | 2008–09 | |
| Sun Belt | 0 |
Italics designate a shared title (tie).