The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl, are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl (first played 1902, played annually since 1916). In most of its early history, the game pitted the champion of the Border Conference against an at-large opponent. Games are now played at Sun Bowl Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. The first three were played at El Paso High School stadium (1935–1937), then switched to Kidd Field until the present stadium was ready in 1963. For its first 24 years of existence, the game was played on January 1 (New Year's Day) or January 2; since then, with the exception of a January 2 game in 1977, the game has been played in December, with the 25 of the last 27 games played on or near December 31.

The game's current full title is the "Hyundai Sun Bowl", which became the name after Hyundai Motor Company's American subsidiary bought naming rights to the bowl from Helen of Troy Limited on June 24, 2010. Hyundai becomes the fourth title sponsor of the Sun Bowl, after Helen of Troy (through its Vitalis and Brut brands),Norwest Corporation/Wells Fargo, and John Hancock Insurance; the bowl was known as the John Hancock Bowl for the last five years of the firm's contract with the bowl. Hyundai signed a four-year contract with the Sun Bowl committee, which runs through the 2013 game. Since 2014, the Sun Bowl Football Selection Committee has shared the third through sixth selections from the ACC with the Belk Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl and either theTaxslayer Bowl or the Music City Bowl. The Orange Bowl has the conference champion or the first selection, followed by the Russell Athletic Bowl.

On the Pac-12 side, the Sun Bowl will have the fourth selection following the newly formed College Football Playoff. The 1992 game was the final head-coaching appearance of College Football Hall of Famer (and future AFCA Executive Director) Grant Teaff of Baylor. Teaff's Bears won over Arizona. The 1940 Sun Bowl set the record for fewest points scored, when the Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe Bulldogs played the Catholic University Cardinals to a 0–0 tie. It is the only scoreless tie in Sun Bowl History.