Boardwalk Bowl
| Boardwalk Bowl (defunct) | |
|---|---|
| Stadium | Atlantic City Convention Center |
| Location | Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Operated | 1961–1973 |
The Boardwalk Bowl was a post-season college football game held at the former Atlantic City Convention Center (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The game, inaugurated in 1961, featured an annual matchup between Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) and the United States Merchant Marine Academy, known as the "Little Army–Navy Game" until 1967. The playing surface in the earlier years consisted of natural grass sod that was grown outside and then moved indoors for the game.
From 1968 through 1972, it was the NCAA College Division East championship game. After the 1972 season, the College Division was split into Division II and Division III. In 1973, under a new playoff system, the bowl became a Division II national quarterfinal, while the other three were played at campus sites. After 1973, the Boardwalk Bowl was discontinued.
The Boardwalk Bowl, along with the Liberty Bowl (played in the Convention Center in December 1964), showed the feasibility of playing football indoors and led the promoters of football games to look seriously at developing indoor facilities primarily for this purpose.
Game results
NCAA College Division
| Date | Winning Team | Losing Team | Game | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2, 1961 | Pennsylvania Military College | 35 | Merchant Marine Academy | 14 | Little Army-Navy Game |
| December 1, 1962 | Merchant Marine | 9 | Pennsylvania Military | 0 | |
| November 30, 1963 | Merchant Marine | 27 | Pennsylvania Military | 13 | |
| November 28, 1964 | Merchant Marine | 20 | Pennsylvania Military | 16 | |
| November 27, 1965 | Merchant Marine | 22 | Pennsylvania Military | 12 | |
| November 26, 1966 | Merchant Marine | 46 | Pennsylvania Military | 7 | |
| November 25, 1967 | Merchant Marine | 39 | Pennsylvania Military | 6 | |
| December 14, 1968 | Delaware | 31 | Indiana (Pa.) | 24 | College Division Regional Final |
| December 13, 1969 | Delaware | 31 | North Carolina Central | 13 | |
| December 12, 1970 | Delaware | 38 | Morgan State | 23 | |
| December 11, 1971 | Delaware | 72 | C.W. Post | 22 | |
| December 9, 1972 | Massachusetts | 35 | California-Davis | 14 | |
| December 1, 1973 | Grambling State | 17 | Delaware | 8 | Division II quarterfinal |