Pythian Bowl

The Pythian Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played from 1949 through 1951. In 1952, the game was played under the name of Lions Bowl. The game was played each year in December in Salisbury, North Carolina, at Shuford Stadium on the grounds of Catawba College. The bowl's original name came from the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization, with proceeds from the game going to a local orphanage. The 1952 game was named after Lions Clubs International, with game proceeds again being used for charitable works. Like some other postseason match-ups of the era, such as the Grape Bowl, Glass Bowl, and Optimist Bowl, results are listed in NCAA records, but the games were not considered NCAA-sanctioned bowls.

Game results

Season	Bowl Name	Date	Winner	Loser	Attendance	References
1949	Pythian Bowl	December 10, 1949	Appalachian State	21	Catawba	7	2,000
1950	Pythian Bowl	December 9, 1950	West Liberty	28	Appalachian State	26	4,500
1951	Pythian Bowl	December 8, 1951	Lenoir Rhyne	13	California (PA)	7	4,500
1952	Lions Bowl	December 13, 1952	Clarion	13	East Carolina	6	2,700

NCAA records list the date of the first Pythian Bowl as "11-26-1949", which is inconsistent with contemporary newspaper reports.
The 1949 game was listed as the "Olympian Bowl" in some newspapers.
For the 1952 game, West Chester had been invited and accepted, however the school later withdrew its acceptance due to the bowl not being sanctioned by the NCAA; Clarion was then invited and replaced West Chester.