Plot Synopsis

Organized by community leaders out of a need to fill hotel rooms during a traditionally slow period in Sin City, the Las Vegas Bowl first kicked off on December 18, 1992, originally pitting the champions of the Big West and Mid-American conferences. Known for the next decade as the first bowl each season, the event was switched to later in the month starting in 2001 -- the same year that ESPN Regional Television (ERT) assumed the ownership and management of the Las Vegas Bowl. Games on Christmas Day and then Christmas Eve were staged before organizers settled on a pre-holiday kickoff to annually pit teams from the Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences against each other at Sam Boyd Stadium. The 30th edition of the Las Vegas Bowl, now called the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, features Wisconsin from the Big Ten Conference against Arizona State from the Pac-12 Conference playing on Thursday, December 30, 2021 at Allegiant Stadium, the new home of the event. The Las Vegas Bowl will feature a team from the Pac-12 Conference vs. a team from either the SEC or Big Ten Conference in a six-year deal (2020-2025). A Big Ten opponent will face a team from the Pac-12 in 2021, 2023 and 2025; while an SEC opponent will face a team from the Pac-12 in 2022 and 2024.