The Cotton Bowl was first played in 1937 in Dallas, Texas and takes place, appropriately enough, in the Cotton Bowl stadium. The first ever Cotton Bowl pitted Texas Christian University (TCU) against Marquette, and TCU won the game 16-6.

At the time bowl games were not the highly publicized and commercial ventures that they are today.

The Cotton Bowl has one of the most storied histories of any of the existing bowl games.

The Cotton Bowl still continues to be considered one of the more 'elite' bowl games, with ranked teams playing on New Year's Day.

In 2010, the Cotton Bowl will move to the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX, which should improve the chances that it will become a BCS bowl game.