The eighth-ranked Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals have accepted an invitation to play in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove on Saturday, Dec. 2.
In a rematch of the 1997 NJCAA championship game, the Southwest Junior College Football Conference regular season champion Cardinals will face the No. 12-ranked Garden City Community College Broncbusters. Game time at Bulldawg Stadium is 11 a.m.
It will mark the second straight year the Cardinals have appeared in the Central Texas-based bowl and fourth time in five years.
"We are looking forward to playing in the Heart of Texas Bowl again," said TVCC athletic director/head football coach Brad Smiley. "We have had great experiences in Copperas Cove and we are excited to play a team that year in and year out is one of the best in Kansas.
"It is also really cool we are playing on the 20th anniversary of the national title game."
The Cardinals and Broncbusters played for the national championship on a cloudy, cold day in the now-defunct Red River Bowl at Pennington Field in Euless. The Cardinals scored a 42-16 win to claim the college's second title.
TVCC and Garden City will both bring an 8-3 record into the contest.
The Cardinals fell 26-10 to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in the SWJCFC regional title game in their last outing. The Broncbusters bring a four-game winning streak into the bowl, including a 69-0 against Fort Scott in their season finale.
The Cardinals, who have appeared in 60 consecutive NJCAA polls, will be making their 22nd bowl appearance and fifth in six years. They are 11-9 in bowl games and have won 10 of their last 11, though a win in 2013 was vacated.
The Cardinals also appeared in the HOT bowl in 2002, 2013, 2014 and 2016 – all wins.
TVCC FOOTBALL
ALL-TIME BOWL RESULTS
1948 Little Oil Bowl
Wharton 49, Cardinals 0
1958 Industrial Bowl
Del Mar, CA 14, Cardinals 12
1959 Hospitality Bowl
Pearl River, MS 30, Cardinals 0
1962 Texas JUCO Bowl
Cardinals 30, Trinidad, CO 13
1965 Junior Rose Bowl
Fullerton, CA 20, Cardinals 15
1966 Junior Rose Bowl
Cardinals 40, Pasadena, CA 13
1967 NJCAA Bowl
Arizona Western 20, Cardinals 7
1968 Wool Bowl
Grand Rapids, MN 24, Cardinals 0
1983 Garland Shrine Bowl
NE Oklahoma 11, Cardinals 10
1984 Jayhawk Bowl
Coffeyville, KS 35, Cardinals 34
1988 Texas JUCO Shrine Bowl
Cardinals 66, Holmes, MS 35
1993 Real Dairy Bowl
Cardinals 42, Ricks, ID 13
1994 Texas JUCO Shrine Bowl
Cardinals 24, NE Oklahoma 17
1997 Red River Bowl
Cardinals 42, Garden City, KS 16
1999 Red River Bowl
Cardinals 48, Navarro 14
2002 Heart of Texas Bowl
Cardinals 33, Jones, MS 22
2005 Pilgrim's Pride Bowl
Cardinals 24, NE Mississippi 14
2011 Citizens Bank Bowl
Butler, KS 21, Cardinals 17
2013 Heart of Texas Bowl
* Cardinals 72, Mesa, AZ 23
2014 Heart of Texas Bowl
Cardinals 27, Coffeyville, KS 24
2016 Heart of Texas Bowl
Cardinals 34, NW Mississippi 24
Bowl Record: 11-9
*Win vacated by NJCAA sanctions and not included in bowl record.
