2009–10 NCAA football bowl games

2009–10 NCAA football bowl games
Bowl sites by state
Season		2009
Number of bowls		34
All-star games		3
Bowl games		December 19, 2009 – February 6, 2010
National Championship		2010 Citi BCS National Championship
Location of Championship		Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
Champions		Alabama Crimson Tide
Bowl Challenge Cup winner		Mountain West Conference
Conference bowl records
Conference	Bowls	Record	%	Teams in final AP Poll
SEC	10	6–4	.600	4
Big 12	8	4–4	.500	3
Big Ten	7	4–3	.571	4
ACC	7	3–4	.429	4
Pac-10	7	2–5	.286	2
Big East	6	4–2	.667	3
Conference USA	6	2–4	.333	0
Mountain West	5	4–1	.800	3
MAC	5	1–4	.200	1
WAC	4	2–2	.500	1
Sun Belt	2	1–1	.500	0
Independents	1	1–0	1.000	0
College football bowl games «2008–09 2010–11»

The 2009–10 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It comprised 34 team-competitive bowl games, and three all-star games. The games began play on December 19, 2009 and included the 2010 BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, California, played on January 7 at the Rose Bowl Stadium. The post-season concluded with three all-star games: the East–West Shrine Game on January 23, the Senior Bowl on January 30, and the Texas vs. The Nation Game on February 6.

The NCAA divided Division I schools into two divisions starting in 1978: The Football Bowl Subdivision (known as Division I-A from 1978–2005) does not have a playoff system, but instead stages Bowl Games. The Championship Game participants are chosen based on their end-of-season conference standings and positions in national rankings (compiled by polls and computers). Participants to other bowl games are based on this, plus discretion of that bowl's organizers (what teams will deliver a compelling game, including TV & Gate receipts). The Football Championship Subdivision (known through this same period as Division I-AA) plays in a sixteen-team, single elimination tournament for a recognized national championship, with the notable exception of the Ivy League and the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which abstain from participation in this playoff. The Ivies choose to limit their football schedule to 10 games and have a long-standing policy against playing postseason football, whereas the SWAC opts for a longer, more easily scheduled regular season, and profitable rivalry games like the nationally televised Bayou Classic in the Louisiana Superdome and the SWAC Championship Game. Between 1991 and 1999, the Heritage Bowl matched top teams from the historically black colleges and universities in a Division I-AA bowl game.

A total of 34 postseason games were played. To fill the 68 available bowl slots, three teams with sub-.500 (6-7) records participated in bowl games.

Selection of the teams

Number of bowl teams per state.

NCAA by-laws state that a school with a record of 6–6 in regular season play is eligible only if conferences cannot fill out available positions for bowl games with teams possessing seven (or more) wins (excluding games played in Hawaii and conference championship games in the ACC, Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference and the SEC). An example was in 2008 when the Big Ten, the Big 12 and SEC each had two teams selected for the Bowl Championship Series games – Ohio State and Penn State from the Big Ten, Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and Alabama and Florida from the SEC. With each conference sending two teams to the BCS, these three conferences forfeited several bowl game slots due to a lack of teams with a winning record.

As with the 2006 and 2008 seasons, all eligible teams with at least 7 wins made it in to a bowl game. Of the 71 eligible teams, only 68 could play in a game, and all three eligible teams that sat out bowl season were 6-6: Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, and Notre Dame, who opted not to play in a bowl game themselves after the firing of head coach Charlie Weis.

For the first time in BCS history, every participant in a BCS bowl was ranked in the top 10 of the final BCS standings.

Fox ends BCS contract

Fox Sports no longer broadcast the Bowl Championship Series following the conclusion of the Orange Bowl on January 5; the network had carried the first three BCS National Championship stand-alone games. ABC telecast this season's contest because of their separate agreement with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the organizers of the Rose Bowl Game and the hosts of the 2010 national championship. Beginning in 2011, ABC sibling company ESPN will begin carrying all of the BCS bowls, in an agreement that will last through 2014. Fox has signed a long-term contract extension with the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic through 2014, with a new prime-time Friday night date starting in 2011.

Sponsorship and stadium changes

Maaco became the new title sponsor of the Las Vegas Bowl replacing Pioneer Corporation, and the game was rebranded as the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas. In another change, the Motor City Bowl thanks to Little Caesars now carries the name of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Advocare became the title sponsor of the Independence Bowl. In a stadium shift, the Cotton Bowl Classic moves from its self-named home for 73 years at the grounds of Fair Park to Jerry Jones's new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The St. Petersburg Bowl was initially to be played without a sponsor after being sponsored by MagicJack in 2008, but just a few weeks before the Bowl, Beef O'Brady's agreed to be the sponsor, so the game became the "St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef O'Brady's".^[1]

New bowls in 2010–11

The Cotton Bowl in Fair Park will be the site of a new bowl game, the TicketCity Bowl, on New Years Day 2011, with the Big Ten and Conference USA providing opponents, and Yankee Stadium will host a game dubbed the Pinstripe Bowl in December 2010, pitting teams from the Big East and Big 12. This contest would be the first bowl game in the Metropolitan New York area since the now defunct Garden State Bowl, and the first in New York City since the now defunct Gotham Bowl was played in the original Yankee Stadium, while a third bowl, called the Cure Bowl benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure would pit members of the Sun Belt Conference and C-USA at Bright House Networks Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The NCAA Football Issues Committee must approve of these games in the spring of 2010 to make them official.

Coaching changes

As a result of head coaching changes between the regular season and the bowl season, the following teams played their postseason contests with interim head coaches:

Team	Bowl	Season coach	Interim head coach	Result	2010 head coach
Central Michigan	GMAC	Butch Jones	Steve Stripling	Won 44-41 over Troy	Dan Enos
Cincinnati	Sugar	Brian Kelly	Jeff Quinn	Lost 51–24 to Florida	Butch Jones
Marshall	Little Caesars Pizza	Mark Snyder	Rick Minter	Won 21–17 over Ohio	Doc Holliday
Texas Tech	Alamo	Mike Leach	Ruffin McNeill	Won 41–31 over Michigan State	Tommy Tuberville

In addition, the following coach retired, but worked his team's bowl game:

Team	Bowl	Season coach	Result	2010 head coach
Florida State	Gator	Bobby Bowden	Won 33–21 over West Virginia	Jimbo Fisher

Notes

• Kelly left Cincinnati to take the same job at Notre Dame.
• Jones left Central Michigan to fill the Cincinnati vacancy.
• Leach was suspended by Texas Tech on December 28 when redshirt sophomore wide receiver Adam James, son of ESPN analyst Craig James, and his family filed a complaint alleging mistreatment by Leach after the younger James had suffered a concussion.^[2] Two days later, Leach was fired.^[3]
• On December 26, Florida head coach Urban Meyer announced his resignation due to health concerns, effective after the Gators' Sugar Bowl appearance.^[4] However, Meyer had a change of heart and announced the following day that he would instead take an indefinite leave of absence, and expected to be back coaching by the start of the 2010 season. Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio took over Meyer's duties during his leave.^[5] Meyer returned to his job in time to lead the Gators' 2010 spring practice.^[6]

Bowl schedule

All dates and game times for the 34 2009–10 season bowl games were announced on April 30, 2009, and are subject to change. They received licenses from the NCAA Football Issues Committee.^[7][8]
NOTE: Rankings from final BCS Standings of December 6, 2009.

Non-BCS Contests
Date	Game	Site	Score
12/19[9]	New Mexico Bowl	University Stadium University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico	Wyoming 35 (7–6, 4–4 MWC) Fresno State 28 (8–5, 6–2 WAC) (2 OT)
	St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, Florida	Rutgers 45 (9–4, 3–4 Big East) UCF 24 (8–5, 6–2 C-USA)
12/20[10]	R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	Middle Tennessee 42 (10–3, 7–1 Sun Belt)[N 1] Southern Miss 32 (7–6, 3–5 C-USA)
12/22[11]	Maaco Bowl Las Vegas	Sam Boyd Stadium University of Nevada, Las Vegas Whitney, Nevada	(14) BYU 44 (11–2, 7–1 MWC) (18) Oregon State 20 (8–5, 6–3 Pac-10)
12/23	SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego	(23) Utah 37 (10–3, 6–2 MWC) California 27 (8–5, 5–4 Pac-10)
12/24	Sheraton Hawaii Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SMU 45 (8–5, 6–2 C-USA) Nevada 10 (8–5, 7–1 WAC)[N 2]
12/26	Little Caesars Pizza Bowl[12]	Ford Field Detroit	Marshall 21 (7–6, 4–4 C-USA)[N 3] Ohio 17 (9–5, 7–1 MAC)
	Meineke Car Care Bowl[13]	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina	(17) Pittsburgh 19 (10–3, 5–2 Big East) North Carolina 17 (8–5, 4–4 ACC)
	Emerald Bowl[14]	AT&T Park San Francisco	(24) USC 24 (9–4, 5–4 Pac-10) Boston College 13 (8–5, 5–3 ACC)
12/27[15]	Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl	LP Field Nashville, Tennessee	Clemson 21 (9–5, 6–2 ACC)[16] Kentucky 13 (7–6, 3–5 SEC)[17]
12/28[18]	Advocare V100 Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana	Georgia 44 (8–5, 4–4 SEC)[19] Texas A&M 20 (6–7, 3–5 Big 12)
12/29[20]	EagleBank Bowl	RFK Stadium Washington, D.C.	UCLA 30 (7–6, 3–6 Pac-10)[21] [N 4] Temple 21 (9–4, 7–1 MAC)[N 5][21]
	Champs Sports Bowl	Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	(25) Wisconsin 20 (10–3, 5–3 Big Ten) (15) Miami (FL) 14 (9–4, 5–3 ACC)
12/30[22]	Roady's Humanitarian Bowl	Bronco Stadium Boise State University Boise, Idaho	Idaho 43 (8–5, 4–4 WAC) Bowling Green 42 (7–6, 6–2 MAC)[N 6]
	Pacific Life Holiday Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego	(22) Nebraska 33 (10–4, 6–2 Big 12) (20) Arizona 0 (8–5, 6–3 Pac-10)
12/31[23][24]	Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl	Amon G. Carter Stadium Texas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas	Air Force 47 (8–5, 5–3 MWC) Houston 20 (10–4, 6–2 C–USA)[25]
	Brut Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas	Oklahoma 31 (8–5, 5–3 Big 12) (21) Stanford 27 (8–5, 6–3 Pac-10)
	Texas Bowl	Reliant Stadium Houston	Navy 35 (10–4)[N 7] Missouri 13 (8–5, 4–4 Big 12) [26]
	Insight Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona	Iowa State 14 (7–6, 3–5 Big 12)[27] Minnesota 13 (6–7, 3–5 Big Ten)
	Chick-fil-A Bowl	Georgia Dome Atlanta	(11) Virginia Tech 37 (10–3, 6–2 ACC) Tennessee 14 (7–6, 4–4 SEC)[19]
1/1[28]	Outback Bowl	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida	Auburn 38 (8–5, 3–5 SEC) Northwestern 35 (8–5, 5–3 Big Ten) (OT)
	Konica Minolta Gator Bowl	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	Florida State 33 (7–6, 4–4 ACC) (16) West Virginia 21 (9–4, 5–2 Big East)
	Capital One Bowl	Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	(13) Penn State 19 (11–2, 6–2 Big Ten) (12) LSU[19] 17 (9–4, 5–3 SEC)
1/2	International Bowl	Rogers Centre Toronto, Ontario, Canada	South Florida 27 (8–5, 3–4 Big East) NIU 3 (7–6, 5–3 MAC)
	PapaJohns.com Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	UConn 20 (8–5, 3–4 Big East) South Carolina 7 (7–6, 3–5 SEC)[19]
	AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic	Cowboys Stadium Arlington, Texas	Ole Miss 21 (9–4, 4–4 SEC) (19) Oklahoma State 7 (9–4, 6–2 Big 12)
	AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	Arkansas 20 (8–5, 3–5 SEC) [19] East Carolina 17 (9–5, 7–1 C–USA) (OT)
	Valero Energy Alamo Bowl	Alamodome San Antonio	Texas Tech 41 (9–4, 5–3 Big 12)[24] Michigan State 31 (6–7, 4–4 Big Ten)
1/6	GMAC Bowl	Ladd Peebles Stadium Mobile, Alabama	Central Michigan 44 (12–2, 8–0 MAC) Troy 41 (9–4, 8–0 Sun Belt)[N 8] (2 OT)
Bowl Championship Series 2010 Schedule
Date	Game	Site	Score
1/1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	(8) Ohio State 26 (11–2, 7–1 Big Ten) (7) Oregon 17 (10–3, 8–1 Pac-10)
	Allstate Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	(5) Florida 51 (13–1, 8–0 SEC) (3) Cincinnati 24 (12–1, 7–0 Big East)
1/4	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona	(6) Boise State 17 (14–0, 8–0 WAC) (4) TCU 10 (12–1, 8–0 MWC)
1/5	FedEx Orange Bowl	Dolphin Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida	(10) Iowa 24 (11–2, 6–2 Big Ten) (9) Georgia Tech 14 (11–3, 7–1 ACC)
1/7	2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	(1) Alabama 37 (14–0, 8–0 SEC) (2) Texas 21 (13–1, 8–0 Big 12)

1. Troy finished their regular season with a perfect 8–0 conference record, earning the Sun Belt title and the conference's lone automatic bowl bid; however, the New Orleans Bowl opted for Middle Tennessee, a Sun Belt team guaranteed an at-large, because Troy and Southern Miss had played each other in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl.
2. Hawaii played a 13-game schedule this season, and lost to Wisconsin on December 5 to finish the season at 6–7, rendering them ineligible for a bowl game. As a result, the berth passed to another WAC team, Nevada.
3. Because the Big Ten received two bids into the BCS, the spot normally filled by the #7 Big Ten team was instead be filled by the at-large Thundering Herd.
4. Army, had to defeat Navy in its final game to be bowl-eligible, but lost 17–3 December 12. Conference USA has a contingency contract for this slot if Army fails to beat Navy; however, all bowl-eligible C–USA teams were already in bowls.
5. The ACC had only seven bowl-eligible teams this season. The MAC has a contingency slot with this bowl if the ACC does not produce eight bowl-eligible teams, and all five of its bowl-eligible teams have at least 7 wins, so Temple received this berth.
6. The MWC did not qualify enough teams to fill all of its bowl bids as a result of TCU receiving a BCS bid.
7. Navy won seven games to be bowl-eligible, as they are playing a 13-game schedule. They secured the bid on November 7 with a 23–21 win over Notre Dame.
8. This slot became an at-large slot after the ACC produced only seven bowl-eligible teams.

Post-BCS all-star games

Date	All-Star Game	Location	Score
1/23	East–West Shrine Game	Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	East 13, West 10
1/31	Under Armour Senior Bowl[29]	Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama	North 31, South 13
2/6	Texas vs. The Nation Game[30]	Sun Bowl Stadium University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas	Texas 36, The Nation 17

Bowl Challenge Cup standings

Conference	Wins	Losses	Pct.
Independents •	1	0	1.000
Mountain West †	4	1	.800
Big East	4	2	.667
SEC	6	4	.600
Big Ten	4	3	.571
Big 12	4	4	.500
WAC	2	2	.500
Sun Belt •	1	1	.500
ACC	3	4	.429
Conference USA	2	4	.333
Pac-10	2	5	.286
MAC	1	4	.200

• – Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible.
† – Bowl Challenge Cup winner.

References

1. http://stpetersburgbowl.com/BOB-release.php
2. Schad, Joe (2009-12-29). "Leach suspended after player complaint". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
3. "Leach fired short of Tech's bowl game". ESPN.com. 2009-12-30. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
4. "Meyer to coach final game at Sugar Bowl". ESPN.com. 2009-12-26. Archived from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
5. "Meyer has change of heart". ESPN. 2009-12-27. Archived from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
6. "Meyer returns from leave of absence". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 2010-03-19. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
7. Future BCS Schedules Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
8. The NCAA News:2009–10 Bowl Schedule Archived August 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
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11. "MAACO Announced As Title Sponsor". Las Vegas Bowl. April 14, 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
12. "Motor City Bowl scheduled for Dec. 26". ESPN.com. May 27, 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
13. "2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl Will Be Played On Saturday, December 26". Retrieved 1 May 2009.
14. "Emerald Bowl returns to prime time for 4th consecutive season". April 8, 2009. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
16. Clemson Tigers News, Scores, Schedule, Stats - Rivals.com
17. John Clay: After day of tribulation, football Cats still appear headed to Music City | KentuckySports: The Latest | Kentucky.com
18. 2012 Kickoff: Friday, December 28 at 1pm on ESPN | AdvoCare v100 Independence Bowl
19. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091202/SPORTS0601/912020394/Music+City++UT+bowl+games+are+set
20. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
21. BREAKING NEWS: UCLA headed to EagleBank if Navy beats Army - Inside UCLA with Jon Gold
22. Game Dates Set for San Diego Bowl Games | 2009
23. Chick-fil-A Bowl Coaches Media Day Archived April 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
24. http://www.newsok.com/ou-to-take-on-stanford-in-sun-bowl/article/3423075?custom_click=lead_story_title
25. Southern California Trojans to meet Boston College Eagles in Emerald Bowl - ESPN
26. Local News Archived December 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
28. Outback Bowl College Football Game - About the Bowl
29. Official Website of the Senior Bowl
30. http://texasvsthenation.cstv.com/