2025 ReliaQuest Bowl
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| 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 40th ReliaQuest Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Raymond James Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Tampa, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Mark Gronowski (QB, Iowa) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Vanderbilt by 5.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Nate Black (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 35,382 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Sam Acho (analyst), and Taylor Davis (sideline) (ESPN) Sean Kelley (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst), and Mike Peasley (sideline) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2025, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 40th annual ReliaQuest Bowl (though only the fourth under that name) began at approximately 12:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.[1][2] It was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. The game's title sponsor was the ReliaQuest cybersecurity company.
The Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), 34–27.[3]
Iowa Hawkeyes
The game featured the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the Vanderbilt Commodores from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The two football programs had never played each other.[4] Iowa had a 3–3 record in six prior appearances in the ReliaQuest Bowl (previously played as the Outback Bowl and Hall of Fame Bowl), while Vanderbilt played in this bowl for the first time.
Iowa compiled an overall 8–4 record (6–3 in Big Ten play) and was ranked in four of six CFP polls released. All their losses were to ranked opponents – at Iowa State, Indiana, Oregon, and at USC – by a combined 15 points. The Hawkeyes did not defeat any ranked teams, though they maintained possession of three rivalry trophies by defeating Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska by a combined score of 118–19.[5]
Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt posted an overall 10–2 record (6–2 in SEC play), establishing a school-record for wins, and was ranked from mid-September onward. Both of their losses were to ranked opponents on the road: Alabama and Texas. The Commodores defeated four ranked teams: South Carolina, LSU, Missouri, and Tennessee.[6]