The Rose Bowl was first played in 1902, and it's been an annual event since 1916.

But some may be surprised to learn that the Sun Bowl is the second oldest bowl, along with the Sugar and Orange, which all began play in 1935.

The Sun Bowl's first game actually was a clash between the El Paso High School all-stars and Ranger (Texas) High School. After that, the early Sun Bowl games usually pitted the winner of the Border Conference against the best available opponent.

Beginning in the late '60s, major football programs began to travel to El Paso for the Sun Bowl, including Georgia, Auburn, LSU and Nebraska.

The first three games (1935-37) were played at Jones Stadium, the home of El Paso High School. From 1938-62, the Sun Bowl was played on the campus of Texas-El Paso (then known as Texas Western) at Kidd Field. The current structure - known as the Sun Bowl - opened in 1963. Capacity is 51,500.

The first 24 Sun Bowls were played on Jan. 1 or 2. After that, with the exception of the Jan. 2, 1977 game, the Sun Bowl has been played on or near Dec. 31. Hyundai is the Sun Bowl's fourth sponsor, following Helen of Troy (Brut and Vitalis), Norwest/Wells Fargo, and the first sponsor, John Hancock Insurance.

The Sun Bowl has the longest running contract with a network. It has been played on CBS since 1968 when Lindsey Nelson and Frank Gifford announced Auburn's 34-10 victory over Arizona.

Some of the all-time coaching greats have participated in the Sun Bowl, including Irish coaching legend Ara Parseghian, a running back at Miami of Ohio who dislocated his shoulder in the second quarter of his team's 13-12 victory over Texas Tech in 1948.

Tom Osborne (Nebraska), Barry Switzer (Oklahoma), Bill Walsh (Stanford), Bob Devaney (Wyoming, later of Nebraska fame), Johnny Majors (Tennessee) and Don Nehlen (West Virginia) coached in the Sun Bowl.

Standout players who have participated in the Sun Bowl include Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State), Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh), LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU), Carson Palmer (USC), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Cornelius Bennett (Alabama), Don Maynard (UTEP), James Lofton (Stanford) and Merlin Olsen (Utah State).

Former Florida State teammates Lee Corso and Burt Reynolds played for the Seminoles in the 1955 Sun Bowl.

Notre Dame and Miami will be making their first appearances in the Sun Bowl. The Irish have a 14-15 record in bowl games; the Hurricanes are 18-15.

Notre Dame and Miami have played 23 times with the Irish holding a 15-7-1 advantage in the series. Although they have never played in a post-season bowl game, they did meet in the 1979 Mirage Bowl in National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

The Mirage Bowl was not a traditional post-season bowl game, but rather, a regular-season game scheduled in Japan from 1977-93. Notre Dame won that game over the Hurricanes, 40-15.