The 1987 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game sponsored by Sunkist. It was part of the bowl season of the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. The game was the 16th edition of the Fiesta Bowl, played annually since 1971. The 1987 game was played on January 2, 1987, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The game was played to determine college football's national champion for 1986, pitting the #1 Miami Hurricanes against the #2 Penn State Nittany Lions. The game was carried by NBC, per their contract to carry the Fiesta Bowl, and was the most watched college football game in history to that point. Due to the special circumstances surrounding the game, the Fiesta Bowl organizers elected to move the game back from its original January 1 date to January 2. Penn State emerg