In the 2005-06 edition of this West Coast gridiron classic, the Oregon Ducks, the runners-up in the PAC-10, face off against the Oklahoma Sooners, representing the Big 12 Conference. The Pacific Life Holiday Bowl will be held at Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL's San Diego Chargers, and site of Super Bowls, MLB All-Star Games, two World Series, countless concerts and motorsports events, and beginning in 2005, an additional post-season football tournament, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

The Holiday Bowl was inaugurated in 1978, with a game in which Navy beat its Western Athletic Conference host BYU, 23-16. Since 1997, the two opponents have been chosen from the Pac-10 and the Big 12. Always a financial success, the $200,000 payouts to each school from the original game have grown past the $2 million mark in recent years.

Some of the festivities leading up to the big game include Team Day at Sea World, Team Day at the San Diego Zoo, a nationally televised 5K run, and "America's Largest Balloon Parade." But you will want tickets to the game itself to witness the U.S. Navy Parachute Team and the stirring Holiday Bowl tradition in which a 45,000-square foot American Flag is unfurled to cover the entire football field. Halftime features marching bands and an amazing fireworks display.