How Pop-Tarts Bowl Teams Have Fared

In the long, quirky history of bowl games, there have been few marketing successes as complete as the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The toaster pastry brand took over the Orlando-based bowl game in 2023 and immediately won plaudits for its lighthearted approach—complete with an edible mascot.

In 2024, the game has been blessed with a quality matchup—a showdown between No. 15 Miami and No. 18 Iowa State. It’s the first meeting between the Hurricanes and Cyclones despite their similar nicknames, and will throw a spotlight on the teams’ vastly different bowl histories.

Here’s a look at Iowa State and Miami’s postseason histories, along with some notes on particularly notable matchups.

The fact that the Cyclones did not reach any bowl game until 1971 is telling, as the Big Eight and its predecessors were quick to embrace the bowl system. Shaking off years of struggles in a difficult conference, Iowa State played in the Sun Bowl that year under coach Johnny Majors.

Unfortunately, the Cyclones would have to wait nearly three decades to win their first bowl game. That came in 2000, when quarterback Sage Rosenfels piloted Iowa State to a 37–29 win over Pittsburgh in the Insight Bowl.

Even more elusive for the program was a major bowl appearance, which finally came in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Coach Matt Campbell, shaking off a season-opening loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, guided his team to a 9-3 mark and a resounding Fiesta Bowl win over Oregon.

Contrary to the beliefs of those who believe Hurricanes football was invented in the 1980s, Miami was reaching bowl games within a decade of its program’s inception. Yes, the Hurricanes played in the very first Orange Bowl, losing 26–0 to Bucknell on its home turf.

It was a fitting beginning to Miami’s bowl odyssey, as the Hurricanes would become more associated with the Orange Bowl than any other bowl game. Only Oklahoma, Nebraska and Florida State have appeared in more editions of that game, and at some point the Hurricanes have taken on all three teams in their backyard. Miami last appeared in the game in 2017, losing 34–24 to Wisconsin.

Befitting their status as one of the late 20th century’s most dominant teams, the Hurricanes have competed for numerous national titles in bowl settings. Miami teams de facto clinched championships in bowls in 1983 (Orange), 1987 (Orange), 1989 (Sugar) and 1991 (Orange), and de facto lost a championship to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl of 1986.

The Hurricanes’ success continued into the era of a structured national championship system; they lost games in 1992 and 1994 that would have given them the Bowl Coalition national title. Less than a decade later, they beat the Cornhuskers in the Rose Bowl to win the 2001 BCS national title, and lost a Fiesta Bowl heartbreaker to Ohio State that would’ve given them that accolade in 2002.

Amazingly, Miami has not won a bowl game since upsetting West Virginia 31–14 in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl.

Here’s how the two teams’ bowl records compare.

The Cyclones are trying to improve upon a rough bowl history, while the Hurricanes seek to end their eight-year bowl victory drought and creep back toward .500.