The Pop-Tarts Bowl unveiled its glorious 2024 trophy on Sunday, making us wonder where it ranks among the best trophies handed out during bowl season.
It’s certainly better than most of the awards handed out during more prestigious bowls.
Yes, we’re looking at you, $2.5 million Fiesta Bowl monstrosity.
And you, CFP National Championship Game trophy. You’ll never be as good as the magnificent crystal BCS trophy that preceded you.
Enough about the lamest college football trophies. Let’s look at the 10 that are the envy of the field.
10. LA Bowl trophy
As the Fresno Bee notes, the “eight-pound, leather and chrome” trophy is unique among CFB trophies. Instead of a standard award, the LA Bowl winner earns a title belt, like you’d see handed out after a wrestling main event.
“The belt has personality,” said LA Bowl executive Jason Gannon.
It’s much more memorable than most of the trophies that will be handed out over the next month.
9. Orange Bowl trophy
One of the few designs that understand the assignment, the Orange Bowl Trophy is literally a bowl of oranges.
While not the most creative, it’s certainly better than the Citrus Bowl Trophy, which isn’t a bowl at all.
Good luck filling getting that thing to hold water.
8. Idaho Potato Bowl trophy
French fries. Hash browns. Latkes. What’s not to love about potatoes?
While as unimaginative as the Orange Bowl trophy, the Idaho Potato Bowl trophy gets a slight advantage because of our favorite spud.
7. Gasparilla Bowl trophy
As a precursor to Gasparilla season, the Gasparilla Bowl trophy reflects Tampa Bay’s annual celebration of piracy. The winning team gets a treasure chest.
Far too few trophy designs think outside the box (or chest), making this an excellent loot.
6. Hawaii Bowl trophy
The Hawaii Bowl trophy fuses The Aloha State and the gridiron, featuring a pineapple-shaped football — or is it a football-shaped pineapple?
Either way, the trophy features one of Hawaii’s enduring symbols—pineapples, despite not being native to the region. It’s much tougher to make a visually striking football-coconut hybrid, after all.
5. Las Vegas Bowl trophy
Looking at the Las Vegas Bowl trophy, we have one thought: more trophies should be inspired by Liberace.
A bedazzled, ornate white football rests on three curved gold columns, making it as eye-catching as a show on the Vegas Strip.
4. Liberty Bowl trophy
The winner of Texas Tech-Arkansas on Dec. 27 will receive a history lesson with its trophy.
Per the Liberty Bowl’s official website, the Liberty Bowl Trophy, produced by Schulmerich Bells, a world-renowned handbell manufacturer, “is an authentic, one-quarter-sized replica of the bell that rang in Independence Hall to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”
3. Birmingham Bowl trophy
Two trophies are on the line at this year’s Birmingham Bowl between old rivals Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
The Tennessean recently wrote about the “silver-plated cowbell” trophy, which Aria Gerson noted was “created after a Yellow Jackets fan brought a cowbell as a noisemaker to a game in 1924” and was found in a Georgia Tech supply closet in 2016.
But that’s a distant second to the main prize. The Birmingham Bowl trophy features a miniature replica of The Vulcan, the world’s largest cast iron statue on Red Mountain.
Peach Bowl, take notes.
2. New Mexico Bowl
This absolute beauty is the gold standard of college football trophies. Hand-crafted by husband and wife duo Marcellus and Elizabeth Media, the New Mexico Bowl trophy “is a Native American clay pot” and “features the iconic Zia sun symbol and images of football players, a deer, mountain lion, buffalo and eagle.” (h/t NewMexicoBowl.com)
Here’s a close look at the trophy from the 2022 game between SMU and BYU.
The trophy retails at $2,500, but for the winners, it’s priceless
1. Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy
Form meets function on the Pop-Tarts Bowl’s brilliant 2024 upgrade.
Seriously, a toaster-trophy hybrid? Science — or a corporate sponsorship between Pop-Tarts and General Electric Appliances — has led us to this point, and it’s beautiful.
Miami was the second team out of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. However, with a win over Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the Hurricanes could get the last laugh.
