Will Rogers Bowl named in honor of Will Rogers, a famous Oklahoma native and self-proclaimed "Cowboy Philosopher," who had died in a plane crash the previous decade. A snow storm hit Oklahoma City just before the game and the game was only attended by 800 people. Nebraska-Wesleyan led 7-0 at halftime but Pepperdine came back to win the game 38-13. The bowl game remains Nebraska-Wesleyan and Pepperdine's only college bowl appearance. Will Rogers Bowl The Will Rogers Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on January 1, 1947. It was intended to be an annual event, but
Will Rogers (Davidson) was returned to the US and donated to the Will Rogers Memorial Fund, a charity established by the movie industry as a tribute to Will Rogers, in 1936. The WRMF was an eventual replacement for the National Vaudeville Artist Fund, which operated social assistance programs and a hospital for vaudevillians suffering from tuberculosis. The hospital was in Saranac Lake, New York and often referred to as the NVA Lodge. As a result of an agreement between vaudeville producers and movie moguls, the hospital name was changed to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, where the plaster cast was on display until