Plot Synopsis

Established in 1976, the INDEPENDENCE BOWL received its name because of America's bicentennial celebration, and a crowd of 19,164 fans watched the inaugural game between McNeese State and the University of Tulsa in the stadium named after the Independence Bowl. During the early years, the Southland Conference continued to provide their conference champion as host for the event through 1980. In 1981, the game achieved open-ended status on both sides, ending the affiliation with the Southland Conference. Texas A&M from the Southwest Conference defeated Oklahoma State from the Big Eight. Poulan/Weed Eater signed on as the game's first title sponsor in 1990. Two years later, the 1992 match-up between Wake Forest and Oregon marked the first INDEPENDENCE BOWL to be shown on ESPN. In 1995, the game reached an agreement with the Southeastern Conference, and four years later established a relationship with the Big 12 -- a relationships with the two conferences that lasted through 2009. Beginning in 2010, the INDEPENDENCE BOWL matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Mountain West Conference. In 2012, the game announced it resumed partnership with the Southeastern Conference to replace MWC. with SEC and ACC teams playing through the 2013 season.

In January 2020, the Independence Bowl Foundation announced new primary conference and team agreements, bringing a rotation of independents Army West Point and Brigham Young University to Shreveport to face off against a rotation of the Pac-12, American Athletic Conference and Conference USA. The 2021 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl features a matchup of BYU vs. C-USA. Army and the American Conference are scheduled for 2022.