The regular season craze is slowly dying, but the post-season is on the tear. We will have two historic bowl games in the approaching semifinals. No. 6 Penn State and No. 7 Notre Dame square off on Thursday in the Orange Bowl. The Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida is all set to host the two college football powerhouses in their first rivalry since 2007. The 91st edition of one of the premium New Year’s bowls stands apart as no matter who wins, a black head coach will inch closer to lifting a trophy in Atlanta.

The Orange Bowl has a long tale of racial struggle over the years. The event has undergone constant evaluation over the years and so has the name. Yes, you heard it right. The fancy term ‘Orange Bowl’ was non-existent back in the inception years.

Orange Bowl’s name’s origin and history: Revisited

We, the human brain, always tend to picture things whenever we hear a name. When you, being a football freak, hear the word Orange Bowl, suddenly the illustrated Miami crowd, the cross-country teams, the blue blood style of play, the loud cheers, champion-defining moments flash upon your eyes. But if it’s 1932, you would probably find a blank sheet embedded in your brain if someone utters the term Orange Bowl.

Well, it was born as a Palm festival. However, eventually, it changed its name to Orange Bowl in 1935. To do more justice to the new name, the game was moved in 1938 to the newly constructed Orange Bowl stadium. A lengthy history of wins and losses laughs and heartbreaks followed in the Little Havana neighborhood west of downtown Miami until it settled into Joe Robbie Stadium (now called Sun Life Stadium) in 1995.

The Orange Bowl Festival isn’t a sports fanatic’s day anymore. It has become a whole entertainment package. In addition to a jam-packed game day, a parade, a tennis tournament, a basketball tournament, a fireworks display, and a sailboat regatta are there to keep the crowd hooked on their toes for hours.

The Orange Bowl’s bolstering halftime show will feature legendary singer 

Did we just miss out on something super fun? Oh yes, some soul-soothing country music in between the game to set the tone right.

While the athletes will regroup and have some breather time before the second half kicks in, a big music bash will greet the crowd in style. ACM New Male Artist and Billboard Rookie of the Year Nate Smith will rightfully steal the spotlight from the headlines Mitch Jeter, Riley Leonard, and Drew Allar for some time. According to the event’s official website, it will bring back the craziest halftime show in the recent bowl game history.

At the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl, the legendary musician will also play the bowl national anthem. If you have any pinch of doubt whether or not he will be able to make it a grand show, you should just listen to his ‘Wildfire,’ the viral rhythms and the music will evade your doubts for sure, As a Sony Nashville co-partner, he has since released several big hits like ‘Whiskey on You,’ ‘World on Fire,’ and ‘Bulletproof,’ that kept his 1.6 billion careers on a roll.

Last year, it was the pop-rock band Walk the Moon that took over Hard Rock Stadium. But it did just go as poor as the game. An early stumble over the mic culminated in a total flop show fuddled with shapes and shadows. This time, hopefully, it will be a reverse deal and the Notre Dame vs. Penn State will trigger a lot of adrenaline through the blood.