Hundreds of University of Cincinnati fans will take to the skies and roads this week, making the trek to Texas to see the Bearcats face their most challenging opponent yet: College Football Playoff's No. 1 ranked Alabama.
UC's football team is undefeated this year and coming off its second back-to-back American Athletic Conference championship win.
This year marks the 86th Cotton Bowl Classic Game, and the first time UC – or any other team outside of the Power Five conferences – has made the College Football Playoffs since its inception in 2014.
Are there still flights available for the Cotton Bowl? What to know before the Bearcats play Alabama
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Cincinnati Bearcats bowl history:From the Sun Bowl in 1947 to the Cotton Bowl in 2021
But what is the Cotton Bowl, anyway, and how did it get its name?
The Cotton Bowl is one of six College Football Playoff National Championship semifinal games scheduled for New Year's weekend. It will be held in Arlington, Texas at the AT&T Stadium.
The other games include:
- The Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia (University of Pittsburgh vs. Michigan State University).
- The Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida (University of Georgia vs. University of Michigan).
- The Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona (Oklahoma State University vs. University of Notre Dame).
- The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California (University of Utah vs. Ohio State University).
- The Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana (University of Mississippi vs. Baylor University).
Click here for the complete schedule for college football's 2021-22 bowl season
Why is it called 'The Cotton Bowl?'
It was 1936 when Dallas oilman and entrepreneur J. Curtis Sanford attended the Southern Methodist University vs. Stanford University Rose Bowl Game in Southern California.
According to the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, Sanford was taken by the national attention the game brought to that region and decided to create the same excitement in his hometown.
Sanford used $6,000 of his own funds to establish the Cotton Bowl Classic for the next year, according to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Texas Christian University defeated Marquette University 16-6 in the first Cotton Bowl Game on Jan. 1, 1937.
Sanford went on to finance three additional games from his own pocket. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
Texas was the leading national producer of cotton at the time, and the name of the game is also a play on the term “cotton boll."
Bolls are the green, protective coverings that grow over the round, fluffy clumps on a cotton plant. This fruit part of the plant is where cotton grows and where cotton seeds and fibers can be found and harvested.
Other bowl games – including the Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl – were also named after key agricultural crops in their respective regions.
Texas remains the largest cotton producer in the nation, contributing approximately 40% of the country's cotton in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The crop is planted from March to June and harvested from August to December in 17 states.
You can watch the Cotton Bowl on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN. The winner will advance to the national championship game in January.
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