The Cowboys Kickoff Classic was an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season. It was played in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys from 2009 to 2021. The game was originally known as the Cowboys Classic from 2009 to 2014, Advocare Classic from 2015 to 2019, and Allstate Kickoff Classic in 2021. No game was scheduled for 2022 onward.[1]
| Cowboys Kickoff Classic | |
|---|---|
 Logo for the 2019 Advocare Classic (logo changed annually with each game) | |
| Stadium | AT&T Stadium |
| Location | Arlington, Texas |
| Operated | 2009–2019, 2021 |
| Sponsors | |
| Former names | |
Cowboys Classic (2009–2014) Advocare Classic (2015–2019) Allstate Kickoff Classic (2021) | |
Game results
edit| Season | Date | Winners | Runners-up | Attendance | TV | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | September 5, 2009 | 20 BYU Cougars | 14 | 3 Oklahoma Sooners | 13 | 75,437[2] | ESPN |
| 2010 | September 4, 2010 | 6 TCU Horned Frogs | 30 | 24 Oregon State Beavers | 21 | 46,138[3] | ESPN |
| 2011 | September 3, 2011 | 4 LSU Tigers | 40 | 3 Oregon Ducks | 27 | 87,711[4] | ABC |
| 2012 | September 1, 2012 | 2 Alabama Crimson Tide | 41 | 8 Michigan Wolverines | 14 | 90,413[5] | ABC |
| 2013 | August 31, 2013 | 12 LSU Tigers | 37 | 20 TCU Horned Frogs | 27 | 80,230[6] | ESPN |
| 2014 | August 30, 2014 | 1 Florida State Seminoles | 37 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 31 | 61,521[7] | ABC |
| 2015 | September 5, 2015 | 3 Alabama Crimson Tide | 35 | 20 Wisconsin Badgers | 17 | 64,279[8] | ABC |
| 2016 | September 3, 2016 | 1 Alabama Crimson Tide | 52 | 20 USC Trojans | 6 | 81,359[9] | ABC |
| 2017 | September 2, 2017 | 11 Michigan Wolverines | 33 | 17 Florida Gators | 17 | 75,802[10] | ABC |
| 2018 | September 2, 2018 | 25 LSU Tigers | 33 | 8 Miami Hurricanes | 17 | 68,841[11] | ABC |
| 2019 | August 31, 2019 | 16 Auburn Tigers | 27 | 11 Oregon Ducks | 21 | 60,662[12] | ABC |
| 2020 | September 5, 2020 | Game cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Originally Alabama v USC.[13] | |||||
| 2021 | September 4, 2021 | Kansas State Wildcats | 24 | Stanford Cardinal | 7 | 28,668 | FS1 |
Rankings are from the AP Poll.
Game summaries
edit2009
editFounded as the Cowboys Classic, the 2009 game featured the No. 20 BYU Cougars of the Mountain West Conference (MWC) against the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 Conference and was played on September 5, 2009. It was the first college football game played at Cowboys Stadium. The game was only the second game played by BYU and Oklahoma, with the Cougars upsetting the Sooners 14–13.
2010
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The second Cowboys Classic matched the No. 24 Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 Conference and the No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference (MWC) on September 4, 2010. The Horned Frogs defeated the Beavers 30–21 in front of series low crowd of 46,138.
2011
editThe third edition paired the No. 4 Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference against the No. 3 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was played on September 3, 2011, with the Tigers winning 40–27.
2012
editNo. 8 Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference played No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) on September 1, 2012, the first regular-season meeting between the teams. Alabama won 41–14 in front of an event record attendance of 90,413.
2013
editThe fifth playing of the Cowboys Classic matched the No. 12 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the No. 20 TCU Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Conference and was played on August 31, 2013. The Tigers beat the Horned Frogs 37–27.
2014
editThe sixth edition featured the Florida State Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 Conference, and was played on August 30, 2014 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It was the fifth meeting between Florida State and Oklahoma State, with the Seminoles leading the series 3–1. The No. 1 Seminoles defeated the unranked Cowboys 37–31 in front of a crowd of 62,521.
2015
editThe seventh edition of the Advocare Classic (and the first with Advocare as title sponsor) featured the Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten Conference, and was played on September 5 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. En route to a national championship, Alabama won their season opener over Wisconsin by a score of 35–17, with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns.[14] It was the second overall meeting between Alabama and Wisconsin.
2016
editThe eighth edition of the classic (and the second with Advocare sponsoring the event) featured the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the #20 USC Trojans of the Pac-12 Conference, played September 3 at AT&T Stadium. The Crimson Tide routed the Trojans 52–6 in front of an announced attendance of 81,359.
2017
editThe ninth edition of the Advocare classic featured the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference versus the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), played September 2 at AT&T Stadium. It was the fourth meeting between Michigan and Florida (Michigan leads 3–0), and the first ever regular season meeting between the teams. The Wolverines won the game 33–17.
2018
editThe tenth edition of the Advocare classic featured #25 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) against the #8 Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), played September 2 at AT&T Stadium. It was the thirteenth meeting between Miami and LSU (LSU leads 10–3), and their first meeting since the 2005 Peach Bowl. LSU won the game 33–17.
2019
editThe eleventh edition of the Advocare Classic featured the #11 Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference against the #16 Auburn Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), played August 31 at AT&T Stadium. It was the second meeting between Oregon and Auburn (Auburn leads 1–0), and their first meeting since the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. After being down by 15 in the third quarter, Auburn came from behind to win 27–21, scoring the winning touchdown with 9 seconds remaining.
2021
editAfter missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was played again in 2021 between Stanford and Kansas State. The Wichita Eagle reported that the stadium attendance of 28,668 was mostly filled with Kansas State fans. The final score was Kansas State 24, Stanford 7.[15]
Records
editBy team
edit| Rank | Team | Apps | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 3 | 3–0 | 1.000 |
| LSU | 3 | 3–0 | 1.000 | |
| 3 | Auburn | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 |
| BYU | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| Florida State | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| Kansas State | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| 6 | Michigan | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| TCU | 2 | 1–1 | .500 | |
| 8 | Florida | 1 | 0–1 | .000 |
| Miami | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Oklahoma State | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Oregon State | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| USC | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Stanford | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | |
| 15 | Oregon | 2 | 0–2 | .000 |
By conference
edit| Rank | Conference | Apps | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEC | 8 | 7–1 | .875 |
| 2 | MW | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 |
| 3 | ACC | 2 | 1–1 | .500 |
| 4 | Big 12 | 4 | 1–3 | .250 |
| 5 | Big Ten | 3 | 1–2 | .333 |
| 6 | Pac-12 | 5 | 0–5 | .000 |
References
edit- ^ "Why AT&T Stadium won't be hosting a 'Cowboys Kickoff Classic' this CFB season". June 27, 2022.
- ^ "Brigham Young Cougars vs. Oklahoma Sooners Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
- ^ "Oregon State Beavers vs. TCU Horned Frogs Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
- ^ "Oregon Ducks vs. LSU Tigers Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
- ^ "Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
- ^ "LSU Tigers vs. TCU Horned Frogs Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
- ^ "Florida State Seminoles vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Scoring Summary (Final): #20 USC vs. #1 Alabama". USC Trojans. September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- ^ "Michigan vs. Florida - Game Summary - September 2, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
- ^ "Miami vs. LSU - Game Summary - September 2, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- ^ "Oregon vs. Auburn - Game Summary - August 31, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
- ^ "2020 Advocare Classic cancelled". advocareclassicfootball.com. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ "Alabama vs. Wisconsin Game Recap". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
- ^ Robinett, Kellis (September 4, 2021). "What we learned from Kansas State's impressive opening victory over Stanford". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 10, 2021.