Independence Bowl

For its first five years, the game pitted the champion of the Southland Conference against an at-large opponent. It then moved to inviting two at-large teams, until 1995 when it began featuring a Southeastern Conference school against an at-large opponent.

Since 1998 the game has normally featured a matchup between teams representing the Big 12 Conference and the SEC. Teams from other conferences are included only if one of those leagues does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill its spot, such as in 2004 when Miami (Ohio) played instead of an SEC squad. In 2008 and 2009, should neither conference fulfill full agreements, a Sun Belt Conference team - provided that they are bowl eligible - will be their replacement.

In 1990, the contest became one of the earliest college bowl games to use a title sponsor, becoming the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl. (The name gave rise to the term Weedwhacker Bowl, which is sometimes used to refer to a second-rank bowl game, especially by fans of top-ranked teams who expect their squads to compete in BCS contests.)

Poulan (then a division of AB Electrolux Home Products, now Husqvarna AB) sponsored the game until 1996. Newell Rubbermaid's Sanford brand of writing products took over sponsorship from 1998 until 2000, while MainStay Investments sponsored from 2001 to 2003. In January 2005, in what was widely perceived as a publicity stunt, the Deja Vu chain of "gentlemen's clubs" offered to become the title sponsor. The offer was rejected.

The Independence Bowl's three-year search for a title sponsor ended on August 21, 2006 when PetroSun Inc., a Phoenix, Arizona-based company that provides services and products to suppliers of oil and gas, agreed to become the bowl's sponsor. The deal, changing the game's full name to the PetroSun Independence Bowl, was to have ran through 2008 with an option for 2009; however the deal was discontinued prior to the 2008 game.