The 2002 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played on January 1, 2002, was the 31st edition of the Fiesta Bowl. The game was played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona between the Colorado Buffaloes (ranked #3 in the BCS) and the Oregon Ducks (ranked #4 in the BCS). Oregon was ranked #2 in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, leading to some controversy that Oregon should have played for the 2002 BCS National Championship.

2002 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
BCS Bowl Game
1234 Total
Colorado 7009 16
Oregon 714710 38
DateJanuary 1, 2002
Season2001
StadiumSun Devil Stadium
LocationTempe, Arizona
MVPJoey Harrington, QB
Steve Smith, CB
National anthemBoston
RefereeAl Ford (SEC)
Attendance74,118
United States TV coverage
NetworkABC
AnnouncersBrent Musburger, Gary Danielson
Nielsen ratings11.3
Fiesta Bowl
 < 2001  2003

In the game, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington threw for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns and led the Ducks to a 38–16 victory. Harrington was named offensive player of the game. Oregon cornerback Steve Smith had three interceptions, a Fiesta Bowl record, and was named defensive player of the game.[1]

This was the first edition of the Fiesta Bowl to match two schools from the Western United States. Previous editions had either only one representative from the West, or none.

Colorado and Oregon became temporary conference rivals for 13 seasons when the Buffaloes joined Oregon's conference, the Pac-12 Conference (formerly the Pacific-10 Conference), in 2011.

References

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  1. ^ "2002 Fiesta Bowl" (PDF). University of Oregon Football 2007 Media Guide. GoDucks.com. p. 196. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2007.