Sugar Bowl Clemson Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (New Orleans, LA)

Sugar Bowl Clemson Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

The Sugar Bowl like the Rose Bowl in Southern California and the Orange Bowl in Miami before it was established to help drive tourism to the New Orleans area. After seeing how well it worked in Pasadena and Miami Colonel James M. Thomson of the New Orleans Item and sports editor Fred Digby began calling for a game to be established in New Orleans.They first presented the idea in 1927. It took a while but eight years later the game had enough support to make it happen. In 1935 the first Sugar Bowl was played in Tulane Stadium on the campus of Tulane University.The game remained on campus at Tulane through 1974 before moving to the Louisiana Superdome the following year (now called the Mercedes-Benz Superdome) where it has remained since with one exception. In 2006 due to the damage Hurricane Katrina caused the game was moved to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.In the early years there was an unofficial affiliation with the SEC but in 1976 it became official. A second association was established in 2015 with the Big 12. However while the game was part of the BCS system traditional affiliations were not as significant. In the context of the College Football Playoff system the Sugar Bowl will host one of the semifinal games every three years.