The Emerald Bowl originated as the San Francisco Bowl, which held its
first game on Dec. 31, 2002. It was established by Giants Enterprises,
an entity organized by the San Francisco Giants baseball team to develop
non-baseball uses for SBC Park. Diamond Walnuts became a title sponsor.
In 2004, the name was changed to the Emerald Bowl, reflecting the name
of the company's Emerald Nuts snack brand. It matches a Mountain West
team against a Big East team, Notre Dame, or a service academy.
