The 68 Ventures Bowl is a postseason NCAA -sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium , on the campus of the University of South Alabama . The game currently matches teams from the Sun Belt Conference and the Mid-American Conference . Originally known as the Mobile Alabama Bowl during its first two playings, it has undergone many name changes.
37-624: The game was known as the Mobile Alabama Bowl for its first two playings, in 1999 and 2000. GMAC (now Ally Financial ) had become the title sponsor for the 2000 playing, and the game was renamed as the GMAC Bowl for the 2001 though January 2010 playings. It was then the GoDaddy.com Bowl for the January 2011 to January 2013 playings when GoDaddy took over sponsorship. In May 2013, it was announced that
74-678: A direct bank , corporate lending, vehicle insurance , mortgage loans , and other related financing services such as installment sale and lease agreements. Ally is one of the largest car finance companies in the U.S. It provides car financing and leasing for 4.1 million customers and originated 1.2 million car loans in 2023. It is on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets and has 2.0 million depositors. The company has sold more than 5 million vehicles, including 505,000 vehicles sold in 2023 via its SmartAuction online marketplace for auto auctions , launched in 2000. The company
111-490: A direct bank . In 2005, the company formed GMAC ResCap as a holding company for its mortgage operations. In 2006, General Motors sold a 51% interest in GMAC to Cerberus Capital Management , a private equity firm . Also that year, GMAC sold a controlling interest of GMAC Commercial Holdings (its real estate division renamed Capmark) to Goldman Sachs , Kohlberg Kravis Roberts , and Five Mile Capital Partners. GMAC Real Estate
148-619: A public company via an initial public offering . In 2015, it moved its headquarters to One Detroit Center, which was subsequently renamed Ally Detroit Center . In June 2016, the company acquired TradeKing, a stockbrokerage , for $ 275 million, which was re-branded as Ally Invest. In May 2016, Ally Bank re-entered the mortgage business with the launch of its direct-to-consumer offering called Ally Home. In April 2019, Ally Home partnered with Better.com for mortgage loan selling, processing, mortgage underwriting , and closing services. In October 2019, Ally acquired Health Credit Services (HCS),
185-598: A 15–14 win over rival Coastal Carolina (ranked No. 1 in the FCS polls at the time), and Liberty clinched a share of the Big South Conference championship. Liberty also earned its first ever FCS playoff berth in school history. Liberty defeated James Madison in the first round of the playoffs, 26–21, before losing to Villanova in the second round, 29–22. Liberty earned a conference co-championship again in 2016 , marking their eighth conference championship. They finished
222-667: A 19-point lead slip away in the second half as the Chanticleers rallied to win in double overtime, 55–52. The Flames would rebound with a shutout victory at Gardner-Webb to mark the first shutout in Turner Gill's eight seasons as a head coach. After victories at home over VMI and Presbyterian , the Flames captured a share of the Big South title with a 56–14 victory at Charleston Southern who has previously beaten Coastal Carolina. Liberty shared
259-541: A full FBS member with bowl eligibility in 2019. In 2020, Liberty entered the rankings in the AP Poll at 25 for the first time in program history. In 2021, Liberty University announced the Flames would become full members of Conference USA effective for the 2023 football season. In 1971, Jerry Falwell and Elmer L. Towns established a private Christian school in Lynchburg Baptist College. Falwell stated
296-660: A plan to “have our athletic program comparable to USC, to Notre Dame, to Alabama, to anybody in time,”, with the football team beginning play in 1973. They played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics until 1980 before moving onto NCAA Division II for seven years. They played in Division I-AA from 1988 to 2017. Fred Banks was the first Liberty player to be drafted in the NFL in 1985. The Flames had their practice facility on Treasure Island near Riverside Park until
333-664: A private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia , in college football . The Flames compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of Conference USA . The program, which previously competed in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), announced it would start a transition to the top level of NCAA football in July 2017. The Flames became a provisional FBS member in 2018, and became
370-638: A replacement. A MAC vs. Sun Belt matchup was then featured for a total of 11 consecutive bowls, through the January 2020 edition . That streak was broken when the December 2020 edition invited teams from C-USA and the Sun Belt. After Arkansas State of the Sun Belt appeared in the 2012 through 2015 editions of the bowl, the conference and bowl committee agreed on changing the team selection bylaws to avoid repeat appearances by teams in consecutive years. The 2001 game between
407-653: A result of losses in GMAC ResCap , a subsidiary of the company, the United States Department of the Treasury invested $ 17.2 billion in the company in 2008–2009. The Treasury sold its last stake in the company in 2014, recovering $ 19.6 billion from its $ 17.2 billion investment. In April 2009 the bank announced plans to move its Charlotte office from Ballantyne to 106,525 square feet (9,896.5 m ) on four floors of 440 South Church , with possible expansion later. At
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#1732859385880444-505: A share at the Big South title, they would have to beat the Virginia Military Institute Keydets . Liberty won the game 33–14, and won a share of the title along with Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina with a record of 6–5 (5–1 in conference play). The 2013 Flames shared the conference championship for a second consecutive year in 2013 . Liberty opened up conference play at home against Coastal Carolina , where they let
481-602: A technology-focused patient financing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina . It was sold to Synchrony Financial in March 2024. On May 3, 2021, Ally began occupying 725,000 square feet at Ally Charlotte Center . In December 2021, Ally acquired Fair Square Financial, a credit card company, for $ 750 million and rebranded it as Ally Credit Card. In 2022, the Disability Equality Index (DEI) listed Ally as one of
518-567: The 2019 season, the Liberty Flames would finish 8–5. They would make and win their first bowl game as an FBS program. In 2020, after a 6–0 start, Liberty made it in the AP Top 25 Poll for the first time in their program history, making it at No. 25. Liberty would go on to finish 10–1 in 2020 and finish the season ranked 17th in the AP Top 25 Poll. Freeze departed Liberty on November 28, 2022, to be
555-501: The 2020 Cure Bowl . The Flames have more wins in the rivalry, having won 8 out of 15 games. Liberty has participated in five bowl games since joining FBS in 2018, going 3–2. † New Year's Six bowl game Liberty made one appearance in the I-AA/FCS playoffs between 1989 and 2017, going 1–1. Liberty has had ten head coaches in program history, not including interim coaches. Liberty plays its home games at Williams Stadium which has
592-801: The 2023 game , a 59–10 win by South Alabama over Eastern Michigan , an altercation took place on-field between the teams prior to the trophy presentation, initiated by an Eastern Michigan player sucker punching a South Alabama player while the South Alabama marching band and team were singing the school's alma mater . Source: Updated through the December 2023 edition (25 games, 50 total appearances). Won (8): Appalachian State , Central Michigan , Georgia Southern , Georgia State , Liberty , Louisiana , Northern Illinois , South Alabama Lost (7): Buffalo , Kent State , Memphis , Middle Tennessee State , Rice , UTEP , Western Kentucky Updated through
629-719: The Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion . In 2022, Ally committed to reach equal spending in paid advertising across women's and men's sports programming over the next five years. Sponsorships include: In December 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and United States Department of Justice ordered the company to pay $ 80 million in consumer monetary damages and $ 18 million in civil penalties after determining that 235,000 minority borrowers paid higher interest rates for auto loans originated between April 2011 and December 2013 because of
666-563: The Marshall Thundering Herd and East Carolina Pirates set the record as the highest-scoring bowl game of all time, and Marshall achieved what was then the greatest scoring comeback in bowl history. In this contest, Marshall battled back from a 38–8 deficit to win. 64–61, in double overtime. Thundering Herd quarterback Byron Leftwich threw for 576 yards in the game. The 2008 game had the largest margin of victory in bowl history, with Tulsa defeating Bowling Green , 63–7. Following
703-522: The ".com" would be dropped from the bowl's name, rebranding it as the GoDaddy Bowl for the January 2014 through December 2015 editions. Dollar General took over sponsorship on August 17, 2016, with the 2016 through 2018 playings branded as the Dollar General Bowl . It was announced on May 29, 2019, that Dollar General would no longer sponsor the bowl. It was temporarily called by its original name,
740-484: The 2011 season, Rocco left Liberty for the head coaching job at Richmond . Liberty became the conference co-champion for the third time in 2012. After starting off 2–0 in conference play, Liberty traveled to Coastal Carolina , where they lost to the Chanticleers 36–12, bringing their overall record to 3–5. Liberty would then play then ninth ranked Stony Brook, beating them 28–14, also extending their at home conference win streak which dates back to 2006. In order to win
777-526: The December 2023 edition (25 games, 50 total appearances). Source: The bowl has been televised on ESPN or ESPN2 since its inception. Ally Financial Ally Financial Inc. (known as GMAC until 2010) is a bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered at Ally Detroit Center in Detroit , Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance , online banking via
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#1732859385880814-648: The Flames lost 45-6 to the Oregon Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl , their first major bowl appearance in school history. Liberty has won nine conference championships: eight in the Big South Conference (two outright and six shared) and one in Conference USA . † Co-championship Liberty maintains a football rivalry with Coastal Carolina which began in 2003. The teams played every year from 2003 to 2016 and met in
851-522: The Mobile Alabama Bowl, until new sponsorship by LendingTree was announced on November 15, 2019, making it the LendingTree Bowl . On May 15, 2023, the game came under new sponsorship and was renamed as the 68 Ventures Bowl . When the bowl first began, it was played as one of the first games of the bowl season in December. The 2006 season saw the game moved to January, and it served as one of
888-559: The company's discriminatory pricing system. The higher rates resulted from the company's specific policy of allowing dealers to charge, at their discretion, a "dealer markup" above Ally's established "buy rate" and then compensating dealers based on the markup. Ally provided an incentive for dealers to charge higher rates, in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act . Liberty Flames football The Liberty Flames football program represents Liberty University ,
925-549: The first two playings, when the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) could receive the bid if one of its easternmost teams qualified as bowl eligible . For the January 2010 edition , the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) was to participate in the bowl as its ninth bowl tie-in. The ACC failed to have sufficient bowl-eligible teams to fill the slot, and the bowl chose Sun Belt Conference champion Troy as
962-441: The flood of November 6, 1985, which devastated the facility. They moved their football operations to campus and, in 1989, to the newly constructed Williams Stadium there. In 2007, the Flames captured their first Big South Conference Football championship with a 31–0 victory over Gardner-Webb . The Flames capped off their second year under head coach Danny Rocco with an 8–3 record and an unblemished 4–0 Big South record to claim
999-632: The head coach at Auburn University after a few weeks of negotiations, discussions, and rumors. In Jamey Chadwell 's first season as the Flames' head coach, he led Liberty to an undefeated regular season and a Conference USA Championship over New Mexico State in Liberty's first season in Conference USA. Following the Championship win, Liberty got the Group of Five New Year's Six Bowl Bid. On January 1, 2024,
1036-602: The last bowls played before the national championship game of either the Bowl Championship Series or the College Football Playoff . For the 2015 season, the bowl was moved back to December, where it remained for every subsequent playing except for the 2019 season. From 1999 to 2009, the bowl pitted a Conference USA (C-USA) team against a team from the Mid-American Conference (MAC), except for
1073-605: The only two teams to post consecutive unbeaten seasons. Liberty finished ranked 15th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 14th in the Sports Network Poll. Undefeated in Big South play for 2009, the Flames just needed to capture a win over Stony Brook in the season finale to secure a 3rd straight Big South Conference Championship. Stony Brook who had only lost one game in Big South play (a 30–27 overtime loss to Charleston Southern
1110-553: The previous week) for 2009 could claim half of the Big South Championship with a win over Liberty. The Seawolves won the game 36–33 to share the 2009 Big South Championship with the Flames. Liberty again became conference co-champions again in 2010. Coastal beat Liberty for the first time since 2006 then the Flames bounced back the next week to secure a win over Stony Brook and a share of the conference championship (three-way tie with Coastal Carolina and Stony Brook). After
1147-484: The season 6–5, 4–1 in Big South play to share the conference championship with Charleston Southern . Despite the conference title, the Flames were not invited to the FCS playoffs . Citing the need to care for his wife, Gill announced his retirement from coaching after the 2018 season. Seventeen months after resigning from Ole Miss Rebels football , Hugh Freeze was named as Liberty's ninth head coach on December 7, 2018. For
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1184-408: The servicing arm of Norwest Mortgage, which included an $ 11 billion mortgage portfolio. In 1991, the company was forced to write-off $ 275 million in bad debt as part of a $ 436 million loss suffered from fraud committed by John McNamara , who ran a Ponzi scheme . In 1998, the company formed GMAC Real Estate . In 1999, GMAC Mortgage acquired Ditech . In 2000, the company formed GMAC Bank,
1221-411: The time, the bank had 265 Charlotte employees in three business units. In May 2009, GMAC Bank was rebranded as Ally Bank. In May 2010, GMAC re-branded itself as Ally Financial. In September 2010, the company sold its resort finance business to Centerbridge Partners . In 2012, the company sold its Canadian banking operations to Royal Bank of Canada for $ 3.8 billion. In April 2014, it became
1258-537: The title with Coastal Carolina, each with identical 4–1 conference marks, though Coastal Carolina received the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs . Liberty became the conference co-champion for the third consecutive year in 2014 . Liberty started Big South Conference play against Gardner-Webb with a 34–0 shutout victory. After three consecutive conference victories, the Flames fell at home to Charleston Southern , 38–36. The loss to Charleston Southern would be Liberty's only loss in Big South play. The Flames rebounded with
1295-400: The title. Liberty ran its unbeaten Big South streak to 11-straight games, finishing back-to-back conference championship seasons with a 30–10 victory over Gardner-Webb. The Flames finished with a 10–2 record on the year and finished the conference slate unbeaten at 5–0. The Flames to become the first team in Big South history to win five conference games in a season and joined Gardner-Webb as
1332-494: Was founded in 1919 by General Motors (GM) as the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) to provide financing to automotive customers. In 1939, the company founded Motors Insurance Corporation and entered the vehicle insurance market. In 1985, while GM was under the leadership of Roger Smith , who sought to diversify the company, GMAC formed GMAC Mortgage and acquired Colonial Mortgage as well as
1369-515: Was sold to Brookfield Asset Management . In 2009, Capmark filed for bankruptcy and its North American loan origination and servicing business was acquired by Berkadia, a joint venture of Leucadia National and Berkshire Hathaway . On December 24, 2008, the Federal Reserve accepted the company's application to become a bank holding company . In January 2009, the company closed Nuvell Financial Services , its subprime lending division. As
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