Shutdown Fullcast - 40 FOR 40: The 2025 Boca Raton Bowl

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

WWWWWWWWELCOME to the return of 40 For 40, our bowl preview series where every bowl game gets its own episode and each episode is exactly as long as that game deserves.Who decides what “deserves” means? We do! Thank you for askingNow through December 31, 100% of proceeds from all PTKU merch sales will be donated to Trans Ohio. Visit preownedairboats.com to purchase BRAND-NEW BLUE SHARKS GEAR #EXCLUSIVEThis episode was produced by Michael Ray SurberFullcast theme 40 For 40 intro arranged and performed by Russell PowellFullcast theme 40 For 40 outro arranged and performed by MattDID YOU KNOW: Spencer and Holly write Channel 6, a year-round newsletter that is mostly about football, until it’s notBefore the world ends (again), treat yourself to Jason’s critically praised novel and other workTravel in your mind palace to Phantom Island, Ryan’s new show with Steven Godfrey, which is not a college football show because another simply cannot existCheck out Surber’s band Killer Antz and his new show Podcasterino

Welcome to the 40-for-40 Boca Raton Bowl preview. This has been previously known as the inscrutably named Cherubundi Bowl from 2017 to 2019. We later named the Charity Bowl after it. And then one of the later dot-com names, the roofclaim. Boca Raton Bowl from 2022, 2020, 23. This Bull's Wikipedia page, our primary source of information for these previews. This game is Toledo and Louisville, by the way.

This game's Wikipedia page contains one of the most interesting sentences I have ever seen in bowl history. The bowl was founded on October 10th, 2013. I would like to know what they mean by founded. Was a shovel stuck into the ground? Was a golden spike driven in somewhere? The website is not forthcoming with this information. This is Toledo's third time here. They are tied for the most appearances with Western Kentucky.

Love that for y'all because we know what the weather is like in Toledo right now, and it's not much better in Louisville. This is one of those games of a type and time during bowl season where SI puts up a specific opt-out tracker for this game. And this is one of the ESPN Bulls. Typically, that's not a good thing. It means their version of engagement is stuff like there is a Boca Raton Bowl podcast where they pull snippets of interviews from people who have been in Boca Raton Bowls

and put it up as its own podcast feed that runs year-round for some reason. The good news. And boy, is this good news. There is brand new Boca Raton Bowl lore as of yesterday. We are recording this on Tuesday, December 16th. On Tuesday, December 15th, giant press release announcing that Bush Beans is now the title sponsor of this. Which means the official name of this game, have either of you heard about this yet?

Yes. Damn it. I haven't heard about it, but I'm now thinking about those beans. That the Boca Raton Bowl is the Beans Bowl? It's now the Bush's Boca Raton Bowl of Beans. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don't know if Keegan, Michael Key, has gambling debts or something,

or if he just likes money, or if he has kids in college, but he is now the official spokesman. So somebody got our letters literally yesterday. There's a comment in CFB Reddit. says, hey, this is a really cool way to do this. And as a bonus, TSA is going to be hella confused at the amount of beans in people's

luggage. What are they talking about? I'm just going to read the first part of this press release. Bush's Beans is officially tossing the rulebook out the window for this year's Bush's Boca Raton bowl of beans with a first of its kind ticket exchange that grants the first 2,000 fans entry to the game in return

for a single can of Bush's beans. So you bring their own beans back to them. They are are then donating those beans to, from what I can gather, is a local food bank. And they are helping to transform Florida Atlantic University Stadium into the world's biggest bowl of baked beans. I have not seen on a scale of like normal game to Pop Tarts Bowl, to Mayo Bowl, how messy they are planning to get with this, with this beautiful bean situation down here. I cannot wait to find out. I cannot state this strongly enough. if ESPN is not going to care

about these games that they have as inventory and they never are. They've had plenty of chances to you and they don't. This is exactly what needs to happen. You need to have sponsors who give a shit and you only have to give a shit a tiny, tiny bit to make these things interesting. Fans, those first 2,000 fans who bring

a can of beans will unlock a seat into the MV Bean section near the end zone. You see how easy this is? Anyway, there is now a slow cooking stove top trophy. The Bush's Boca Raton Bowl of beans will have a massive pot of simmering

beans with a stove to be lit when the game gets started. And I'm quoting here, a delicious surprise, save for the winning team's celebration. Please cover one of these coaches in hot beans slowly. Hot beans. Please, oh, please. Beans that have been

cooking for four hours. There are also, well, I mean, if you're starting, can beans, I'll take that long to cook. Anyway, this is a Rancho Gordo house. but not on the day of the Bush's Beans Bowl. You also get beans all over bucket hats that will be complimentary handed out to fans at the game.

Anyway, I don't have much to say about the football contest. I do think it will be one of the, it's not the least palatable of this early slate. It's fine. Yeah, this has been a disappointing season for my Rockets by their lofty standards. I'm very excited that someone has finally decided to give a shit about one of these games, because usually this part of the schedule is a real fucking slog, and now at least we are slogging

through beans. I think it's a, as far as football goes, it's a standard Toledo season, like arguably the best team in the Mac, but they don't win it. That's every Toledo season. Like every Toledo season, the power ratings are all like, wow, this team is like, could compete in the Big Ten. But yet. And maybe they broke the Gunslinger cycle this year with Jason Candle, with Jason

candle headed for beaner pastures but uh oh wait i didn't mean i'll just they'll bring in another coach he'll be the exact same guy this is who they've been for a long long long time really good team not going to win the mac um but yeah shout out to the beans bowl like uh i mean i think with bulls it's just like you know if if you can be okay with with saying like all right we're going to charge 10 000 fewer dollars for the sponsorships maybe we'll get an interesting sponsor that people will actually care about and engage with and turn the game from like we took money from defense contractor and fielded an event to like there is a thing with some social reach to it that people are going to post about because of the event itself so i don't know uh i mean that sounds

like more work i realize and it's easier this is no but this is what i probably used to call a conservative code of belief of my mind and now i'm not so sure because again it's weird that palatire is it sponsoring a game but i think that all bowl sponsors should be a good yeah be some kind of consumer good i think they should all be something that a normal person might not need to buy but might want to buy because they watch the game, right? Like, to me, it's fine if it's something ephemeral or some sort of experience or something, but it shouldn't be like pay money to start a war in Afghanistan. I don't have any interest in doing that, and I can't afford to,

so I don't know why you're asking me to give you money for it. Also, Jason Candle's first head coaching win, if I recall correctly, was at this game. It was not yet the bean bowl, but also I do love that there's a bean bowl, and it's not in Boston. Yeah. Yeah. Take that. They need to be the bagel. How you like them apples. Yeah, with beans.