San Diego will get a second college football bowl game this December as the SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl returns after a nine-year absence.
The 13th Poinsettia Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 23 at Snapdragon Stadium, with kickoff set for 4:30 p.m. The Holiday Bowl will follow Dec. 28 at 2 p.m., giving San Diego consecutive postseason football events at the stadium. Both games will be televised by The CW.
The Poinsettia Bowl was last played in 2016, when BYU defeated Wyoming 24-21. The game was discontinued after that season following a 12-year run as an NCAA-sanctioned bowl.
San Diego County Credit Union will again serve as the Poinsettia Bowl’s title sponsor. SDCCU held the naming rights during the bowl’s previous run from 2005 through 2016.
The revived game will feature a team from the new Pac-12 against a Power 4 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12. The arrangement gives San Diego State a potential path to the game after the Aztecs joined the reconfigured Pac-12 this year.
SDSU played in three Poinsettia Bowls during the event’s previous run. The Aztecs defeated Navy 35-14 in 2010 before falling to BYU 23-6 in 2012 and Navy 17-16 in 2014.
The Poinsettia Bowl has roots that predate its modern incarnation. A predecessor was played at Balboa Stadium from 1952 through 1955 as a military bowl before the event eventually returned in 2005 as an NCAA-sanctioned college football game.
Its revival comes during a particularly unusual period for the sport’s conference landscape.
The Pac-12 relaunched this summer with Oregon State and Washington State joined by six newcomers: SDSU, along with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and Texas State. The conference’s return has created additional postseason opportunities for its members.
The changing landscape also contributed to the loss of the Los Angeles Bowl, which previously provided a postseason destination for teams from the Pac-12 and Mountain West.
The Holiday Bowl will retain its connection to the Pac-12 by matching a former Pac-12 program against an ACC opponent. Last year’s Holiday Bowl featured Arizona against SMU, with SMU winning 24-19.
For The CW, the two San Diego games add another piece to the network’s growing college football lineup.
“The CW continues to build on our biggest college football season ever with the addition of the SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl and the Holiday Bowl,” said Mike Perman, the network’s senior vice president of CW Sports. “We look forward to collaborating alongside Sports San Diego to bring two more premier college football bowl games to a national audience.”
Sports San Diego CEO Mark Neville said the organization is eager to have the game back. It will be played at Snapdragon, which opened in 2022, for the first time.
“We’re thrilled to bring back the SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl,” Neville said. “This game holds a special place in our community, and we can’t wait for its return at Snapdragon Stadium this December.”
Tickets will first be offered to annual Holiday Bowl ticket holders. SDCCU members will then receive access to an exclusive presale before tickets go on sale to the general public in September.
