The Bluegrass Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played only once, on December 13, 1958, at Cardinal Stadium (later known as "Old Cardinal Stadium") in Louisville, Kentucky. The Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated Florida State Seminoles, 15–6. Background of the Bluegrass Bowl Game organizers expected the Bluegrass Bowl to be an annual event in Louisville, starting with the 1958 contest. The first choices for the game were the Kentucky Wildcats and the Alabama Crimson Tide, which went 5–4–1 in its first season under Bear Bryant, who had previously coached at Kentucky for eight seasons. The Wildcats, who had received poor treatment from the Louisville crowd during a 51–0 win over at Cardinal Stadium in their season opener, turned down the bid, with the team's lettermen voting 18–12 against. Kentucky's players voting to turn down bowl bids was nothing new: they said no to the Gator Bowl in 1953, despite a 7–2–1 record in Bryant's final season in Lexington, and again in 1954 after going 7–3. Alabama also declined; Oklahoma State and Florida State accepted invitations. Bowl organizers successfully negotiated a national television contract with American Broadcasting Company (ABC), with a 100-mile blackout (at the time, ABC held only a secondary affiliation in Louisville with primary CBS affiliate WHAS-TV). A crowd of 15,000, less than half capacity, was expected for the inaugural game. Tickets were priced at $6.50 each, though due to unenthusiastic demand they were being sold for $1.50 on the day of the game. Parking cost 25 cents. Game results 1958 Bluegrass Bowl Oklahoma State entered the game ranked #19 in the AP Poll, while Florida State was unranked. Florida State was an independent with a 7–3 regular season record; Oklahoma State was also 7–3 as an independent, having left the Missouri Valley Conference after the 1956 season and not joining the Big Eight Conference until 1960. Florida State, in their final season under head coach Tom Nugent, made in their third bowl game. Oklahoma State, coached by Cliff Speegle, was appearing in its fourth bowl game. The game was played at Cardinal Stadium on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, just behind Freedom Hall, where that year's NCAA basketball championship had been held. Kickoff was at 1:30 p.m., with a game time temperature of 20 °F, and falling. The playing field was icy and slippery, causing the players to forego cleats and wear tennis shoes