The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas accepts bid to 2006 Alamo Bowl
12.03.2006 | Football
The University of Texas (9-3) has accepted an invitation to be the Big 12 representative in the 2006 Alamo Bowl where it will face the University of Iowa Hawkeyes (6-6) on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 3:30 p.m. CT on ESPN in San Antonio's 65,000-seat Alamodome.
"We look forward to welcoming the history and tradition of the Texas Longhorns to San Antonio for their first Alamo Bowl appearance to play the Iowa Hawkeyes," said Bob Cohen, Alamo Bowl chairman. "Under the leadership of head coaches Mack Brown and Kirk Ferentz, Texas and Iowa truly are the gold standard in college football, and we couldn't be more excited with this match-up."
This will be only the second time Texas and Iowa have faced each other. The previous meeting came in the 1984 Freedom Bowl as the Hawkeyes defeated the Longhorns, 55-17. This will be also Texas' third trip to the Alamodome, including a 37-10 win against SMU in 1993, and a 22-6 loss to Nebraska in the 1999 Big 12 Championship.
The 2006 Alamo Bowl will be Texas' ninth straight bowl game, all under Mack Brown. That matches the Horns' longest streak since they went to nine straight bowls from 1977-85. This year's bid also marks UT's 12th bowl in the last 13 years and its 46th bowl bid overall (T-No. 2 on the NCAA all-time chart/first among Big 12 schools). The Longhorns have a 22-21-2 record all-time in bowls, including a 41-38 win over No. 1 USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl, giving Texas its fourth National Championship.
Texas enters the Alamo Bowl having won four of its last five bowl games and has a 5-3 record in bowl contests under Brown. He is the first Longhorn coach since Darrell Royal, who was 8-7-1 in bowl games, to post a .500 or better record in postseason contests. Brown has led his teams to a bowl game in each of his last 15 seasons, which is the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Florida State coach Bobby Bowden (25).
With back-to-back bowl victories under Brown in 2001-02, it marked the first time the Horns had won consecutive bowl games since 1968-69, and they have now repeated that feat by winning back-to-back Rose Bowls in the past two seasons. Texas won five straight bowl contests from 1963-69.
Tickets for the 2006 Alamo Bowl can be ordered by calling the UT Athletics Ticket Office at 512-471-3333 or 800-982-BEVO. The Athletics Ticket Office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT.
