The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl is an annual post-season college football bowl game. Played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, the Poinsettia Bowl features the second-place team from the Mountain West playing against an eligible rotating opponent which can include independent teams such as the Navy Midshipmen and Army Black Knights, and a team from the Western Athletic Conference.http://www.poinsettiabowl.com/news/poinsettia-bowl-announces-2010-13-conference-team-matchups.html
In the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, the San Diego State Aztecs played on their home field and defeated the Navy Midshipmen 35-14.http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=303570021 The game began at 8:00 p.m. on December 23, 2010. Navy entered with a 9-3 overall record while San Diego State entered at 8-4, including going 5-3 in games against Mountain West Conference opponents.http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/preview?gameId=303570021
Poinsettia Bowl History
The Poinsettia Bowl was originally played as a military bowl game and held four-consecutive years starting in 1952.http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/bowls/bowl_results.php?bowlid=239
The first modern-day Poinsettia Bowl was held on December 22, 2005. The Navy Midshipman defeated the Colorado State Rams with a score of 51 to 30. In 2006, The Northern Illinois Huskies fell to the TCU Horned Frogs 37-7. Navy returned to the bowl game in 2007, where they were defeated by the Utah Utes 35-32.http://www.poinsettiabowl.com/bowl-history/game-history.html
The TCU Horned Frogs defeated the Boise State Broncos, 17-16, in the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl on December 23.http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=283582628&confId=80 In 2009, the game featured Utah defeating California 37-27 on December 23, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. EST.http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=293570025
San Diego State Invited to the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl
In early December 2010, representatives from the San Diego Country Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl attended a San Diego State basketball game to officially invite the Aztecs to play in the bowl game. Brady Hoke, the head coach of the Aztecs football team was also on hand to accept the invitation to play in the game against the Navy Midshipmen and express his excitement for the game.