MAACO Bowl Las Vegas

The MAACO Bowl Las Vegas is a college football postseason game played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas each year. First contested in 1992, the bowl was originally a matchup between the champions of the Mid-American and Big West conferences, but the game now features the champion (or first selection) from the Mountain West Conference and the fifth choice from the Pac-12. In the 2011 edition of the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas -- which is now owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television -- Boise State defeated Arizona State in the final game of Kellen Moore's college career.

The Las Vegas Bowl originated in 1992, when the California Raisin Bowl was reorganized and moved from Fresno, Calif., to Las Vegas. Renamed for its new host city, the first edition of the new bowl featured Bowling Green edging the University of Nevada 35-34 at Las Vegas Stadium (now called Sam Boyd Stadium).

The early years of the game featured matchups between the champions of the Big West and Mid-American conferences. Nevada served as the Big West representative three times between 1992 and 1996, and its loss to Toledo in the 1995 was the first-ever overtime game in NCAA Division I-A history (rules for overtime were adopted for all of Division I-A for the following regular season).

Conference affiliations for the Las Vegas Bowl changed for the 1997 and 1998 contests, with a representative from the Western Athletic Conference facing at-large opponents in those two postseasons. The newly formed Mountain West Conference then accepted invitations to the game in 1999 and in 2000, when hometown UNLV defeated Arkansas 31-14.

Sega Sports became the new sponsor for the Las Vegas Bowl in 2001, the same year the game's organizers entered into an agreement with the Mountain West and Pac-10 conferences to host teams from those leagues in the annual postseason game at Sam Boyd Stadium. New Mexico became the first team to play in back-to-back years at the Las Vegas Bowl in 2002 and 2003, but lost both contests to Pac-10 opponents. In the following year -- by which time Pioneer had become the game's title sponsor -- Wyoming restored some pride for the Mountain West Conference by defeating UCLA 24-21.

Brigham Young University then became a fixture in the Las Vegas Bowl by appearing in the game five straight years between 2005 and 2009. The Cougars were the first to claim successive Las Vegas Bowl wins with victories in 2006 and 2007, and captured a third win at Sam Boyd Stadium by defeating Oregon State in the newly renamed MAACO Bowl Las Vegas in 2009.

Looking for a third postseason win in Las Vegas in the 2010 edition (after victories in the 1999 and 2001 games), Utah opened the scoring against Boise State but ended up on the losing end of a 26-3 scoreline.

Boise State made a repeat appearance in the game in 2011, this time representing the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos easily defeated Arizona State, giving storied QB Kellen Moore the 50th win of his college career, an FBS record.

Sam Boyd Stadium is an outdoor football arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas. It is the home field of UNLV's football team, and served as the home of the Las Vegas Posse for its one season in the Canadian Football League in 1994, as well as the XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws in 2001.

Built in 1971 for a cost of $3.5 million, the facility was originally known as Las Vegas Stadium before being renamed the Las Vegas Silver Bowl in 1978, the year in which its seating capacity was increased to 32,000. 1984 brought another name change to the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, in honor of local gaming pioneer Sam Boyd. The stadium's name was officially shortened to Sam Boyd Stadium in 1994, when the facility underwent more renovations and expanded seating. Its current seating capacity is 36,800, with the ability to seat more than 40,000 when called for.

The field at Sam Boyd Stadium had a retractable artificial turf installed in 1985, allowing for the quick removal of the turf to allow other events to be staged at the stadium. But that playing surface has since been replaced by natural grass in 1999 and then another synthetic surface in 2003.

In addition to UNLV football games, Sam Boyd Stadium has hosted other sporting events and concerts over the years. It has also served as the site of the Western Athletic Conference's championship game, Nevada high school football championship games, as well as the Las Vegas Classic -- which annually features two football teams from historically black universities.