Pecan Bowl

The Pecan Bowl was the name of two college football bowl games played in two different eras. The initial version, in 1946 and 1947, was contested by historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The later version, held from 1964 through 1970, was an NCAA College Division regional final.

HBCUs
The original Pecan Bowl was played in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1946 and 1947. Both games were hosted (and won) by South Carolina State.

College Division
The Pecan Bowl name was revived for one of the four regional finals of the College Division, before it was subdivided into Division II and Division III in 1973. The game served as the championship for the Midwest Region from 1964 to 1970, at a time when there were no playoffs at any level of NCAA football. For the smaller colleges and universities, as for the major programs, the national champion was determined by polls conducted by the leading news wire services.

The bowl was played in Abilene, Texas from 1964 to 1967 and in Arlington, Texas, from 1968 to 1970. The intent for the Midwest game was to match the two best non-major teams from a region of eleven states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. The other three regional finals were the Tangerine (later Boardwalk), Grantland Rice, and Camellia bowls. Louisiana was moved to the Mideast Region in 1967, prior to the Grantland Rice Bowl relocating from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Baton Rouge.

The bowl name was selected through a public contest in 1964, and was considered appropriate as Abilene is in the Texas pecan belt. The game was played four times at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, before moving to Arlington's Memorial Stadium in 1968. The last Pecan Bowl was held at Arlington's Turnpike Stadium, a minor-league baseball facility subsequently expanded to serve as the initial home of the Texas Rangers in 1972.

The inaugural game matched the State College of Iowa (now the University of Northern Iowa) and Lamar Tech (now Lamar University), and was won by State College. Two schools made three appearances in the Pecan Bowl, North Dakota State and Arkansas State, with both winning twice and losing once. They played each other in 1968, in a game won by top-ranked NDSU.

In March 1971 the Midwest regional final was moved from Arlington to Wichita Falls, Texas, where it was rebranded as the Pioneer Bowl.