The 2001 New Orleans Bowl featured the North Texas Mean Green and the Colorado State Rams. It was the inaugural playing of the game. North Texas became the first team in NCAA history to make a bowl game after starting the season 0-5. They were the Sun Belt Conference Champions, despite having a losing record, and with the conference championship, had earned the automatic bid, staying consistent with rules in other NCAA sports (most notably basketball) where the conference champion earns an automatic postseason bid, regardless of record.