2006–07 NCAA football bowl games

The 2006–07 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season in college football.

A record of 32 team-competitive plus five all-star postseason games were played, with the addition of the new stand-alone Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game, the International Bowl in Toronto, Ontario (the first all-USA bowl game played outside the country since the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Cuba), the Papajohns.com Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl, and the post-season-ending all-star Texas vs. The Nation Game. To fill the 64 available bowl slots from the 119 schools in the Bowl Subdivision, a record 7 teams (11% of all participants) with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all seven had a .500 (6-6) season.

Along with the increase in bowl games, the NCAA ruled that teams could schedule twelve regular-season games (up from eleven) beginning in the 2006 season. NCAA teams in Alaska and Hawaii, and their home opponents, are allowed to schedule an extra game over and above this limit. Two teams in any conferences with a championship final could play a 13th game in that conference championship [the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12 Conference, Conference USA (C-USA), Mid-American Conference (MAC), and Southeastern Conference (SEC)]. The increase in bowl games and season schedule resulted in the NCAA deciding to allow teams with a 6–6 record to be bowl eligible if either the team or their conference has negotiated a bowl contract.

Selection of the teams

NCAA regulations stipulate any team finishing 6–6 can only be selected to fill a conference tie-in bowl slot once all other available conference teams are chosen. For example, the Big East had six bowl-eligible teams, but only five bowl tie-ins, so 6–6 Pittsburgh was automatically the odd team out. The same rule also applies to at-large bowl selections. With only a pair of at-large bowl positions available and two remaining 7–5 teams, the MAC's Northern Illinois's selection to the Poinsettia Bowl and the Sun Belt's Middle Tennessee's selection to the Motor City Bowl meant any remaining 6–6 teams had no chance of playing in a bowl game. Thus, this season marked the first time in NCAA history that every team with a winning record in the regular season played in a bowl game.

Besides Pitt, those who didn't go bowling with a .500 record were Kansas from the Big 12, Pac-10 members Arizona and Washington State, SMU from Conference USA, the MAC's Kent State, Sun Belt members Arkansas State and Louisiana–Lafayette and Mountain West member Wyoming, which drew controversy on the subject of the New Mexico Bowl, listed below.

NOTE: All payouts mentioned are in US$.

Schedule DateTimeGameSiteMatchupRef.Non-BCS Bowls Dec 19 8:00 p.m. Poinsettia Bowl Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA No. 25 TCU 37, Northern Illinois 7 Dec 21 8:00 p.m. Las Vegas Bowl Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV No. 19 BYU 38, Oregon 8 Dec 22 8:00 p.m. New Orleans Bowl Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA Troy 41, Rice 17Dec 23 1:00 p.m. PapaJohns.com Bowl Legion FieldBirmingham, AL South Florida 24, East Carolina 7 4:30 p.m. New Mexico Bowl University StadiumAlbuquerque, NM San Jose State 20, New Mexico 12 8:00 p.m. Armed Forces Bowl Amon G. Carter StadiumFort Worth, TX Utah 25, Tulsa 13 Dec 24 8:00 p.m. Hawaii Bowl Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI Hawaii 41, Arizona State 24 Dec 26 7:30 p.m. Motor City Bowl Ford FieldDetroit, MI Central Michigan 31, Middle Tennessee 14 Dec 27 8:00 p.m. Emerald Bowl AT&T ParkSan Francisco, CA Florida State 44, UCLA 27Dec 28 4:30 p.m. Independence Bowl Independence StadiumShreveport, LA Oklahoma State 34, Alabama 31 8:00 p.m. Texas Bowl Reliant StadiumHouston, TX No. 16 Rutgers 37, Kansas State 10 8:00 p.m. Holiday Bowl Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA No. 20 California 45, No. 21 Texas A&M 10Dec 29 1:00 p.m. Music City Bowl LP FieldNashville, TN Kentucky 28, Clemson 20 2:00 p.m. Sun Bowl Sun BowlEl Paso, TX No. 24 Oregon State 39, Missouri 38 4:30 p.m. Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN South Carolina 44, Houston 36 7:30 p.m. Insight Bowl Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41 8:00 p.m. Champs Sports Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL Maryland 24, Purdue 7Dec 30 1:00 p.m. Meineke Car Care Bowl Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC No. 23 Boston College 25, Navy 24 4:30 p.m. Alamo Bowl AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX No. 18 Texas 26, Iowa 24 8:00 p.m. Chick-fil-A Bowl Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA Georgia 31, No. 14 Virginia Tech 24 Dec 31 7:30 p.m. MPC Computers Bowl Bronco StadiumBoise, ID Miami (FL) 21, Nevada 20Jan 1 11:00 a.m. Outback Bowl Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL Penn State 20, No. 17 Tennessee 10 11:30 a.m. Cotton Bowl Cotton BowlDallas, TX No. 10 Auburn 17, No. 22 Nebraska 14 1:00 p.m. Gator Bowl Jacksonville Municipal StadiumJacksonville, FL No. 13 West Virginia 38, Georgia Tech 35 1:00 p.m. Capital One Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL No. 6 Wisconsin 17, No. 12 Arkansas 14 Jan 6 12:00 p.m. International Bowl Rogers CentreToronto, ON, Canada Cincinnati 27, Western Michigan 24 Jan 7 8:00 p.m. GMAC Bowl Ladd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL Southern Miss 28, Ohio 7BCS BowlsDateTimeGameSiteMatchupRef.Jan 1 5:00 p.m. Rose Bowl Rose BowlPasadena, CA No. 8 USC 32, No. 3 Michigan 18 8:00 p.m. Fiesta Bowl University of Phoenix StadiumGlendale, AZ No. 9 Boise State 43, No. 7 Oklahoma 42 Jan 2 8:00 p.m. Orange Bowl Dolphin StadiumMiami Gardens, FL No. 5 Louisville 24, No. 15 Wake Forest 13 Jan 3 8:00 p.m. Sugar Bowl Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA No. 4 LSU 41, No. 11 Notre Dame 14 Jan 8 8:00 p.m. BCS National Championship Game University of Phoenix StadiumGlendale, AZ No. 2 Florida 41, No. 1 Ohio State 14 Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Non-BCS bowls

Poinsettia Bowl

TCU (10–2) 37, Northern Illinois (7–5) 7 The post-season kicked off with the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium on December 19, 2006, the first of two scheduled bowl games in that stadium. The Mountain West's Texas Christian University Horned Frogs held the Mid-American Conference's NIU Huskies' star running back Garrett Wolfe to 28 yards en route to a 37–7 win. TCU quarterback Jeff Ballard rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another. The Horned Frogs entered the game ranked 25th in the final regular season AP Poll, while the Huskies entered the Poinsettia Bowl after finishing in third place in the MAC's West Division. Each team earned $750,000 for their conference by participating in the game. Among those in attendance were San Diego Chargers running backs LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU alumnus) and his backup, NIU alum Michael Turner.

Las Vegas Bowl

Brigham Young (10–2) 38, Oregon (7–5) 8 The first meeting between a BCS AQ conference and a BCS non-AQ conference took place in the Pioneer Pure Vision Las Vegas Bowl on December 21 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada. The Mountain West Conference champion Brigham Young University Cougars, led by game MVP tight end Jonny Harline, handily trounced the Pac 10's University of Oregon Ducks by a score of 38–8. Each team earned $950,000 for their conference by participating in the game.

New Orleans Bowl

Troy (7–5) 41, Rice (7–5) 17 One relative newcomer to the Division I Bowl Subdivision, and one team that last won a bowl game in 1954, squared off in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, which returned to the Louisiana Superdome in the titular city on December 22 after the 2005 game was held at Cajun Field on the campus of University of Louisiana at Lafayette due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Conference USA's Rice University Owls, who made their first post-season appearance in 45 years, were trounced by the Sun Belt Conference co-champion Troy University Trojans 41–17. The Trojans, winning their first bowl game in school history, were playing in their second post-season game in three years, having appeared two years beforehand in the now-defunct Silicon Valley Football Classic. Each team earned $325,000 for their conference by participating in the game. Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook and cornerback Elbert Mack were named co-MVPs.

Papajohns.com Bowl

South Florida (8–4) 24, East Carolina (7–5) 7 The city known as the "Football Capital of the South" returned to the post-season for the first time since 1990 and the defunct All-American Bowl when Birmingham, Alabama's Legion Field hosted the inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl, the first of three games that were scheduled Saturday, December 23. Conference USA's East Carolina University, coached by Skip Holtz, the son of Lou Holtz, fell to the Big East's University of South Florida by the score of 24–7, in the Bulls' second post-season game in as many years, having been shut out 14–0, the last year in the Meineke Car Care Bowl by North Carolina State. Both teams earned a $300,000 paycheck for their conferences by playing this contest. Game MVP Benjamin Williams scored the game's historic first points as well as the Bulls' first points as a member of the Bowl Subdivision with a touchdown, one of two he scored, ninety seconds into the game. The game evened the BCS AQ/non-AQ tally at one game apiece.

New Mexico Bowl

San Jose State (8–4) 20, New Mexico (6–6) 12 The second game of this December 23 triple-header was another first annual bowl game, the New Mexico Bowl, played at University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The Spartans of San Jose State University, representing the Western Athletic Conference, faced the host school, who represented the Mountain West. The Lobos were chosen over the University of Wyoming Cowboys, despite Wyoming beating them on said field, 14–10, on October 7, and having a better record in the MWC (5–3 vs. New Mexico's 4–4). John Broussard of the Spartans scored the first points in the bowl's history just ten seconds into the second quarter on a 78-yard pass from quarterback Adam Tafralis, and five turnovers did the Lobos in as SJSU won, 20–12. Each team earned $750,000 for their conference by participating in the game.

Armed Forces Bowl

Utah (7–5) 25, Tulsa (8–4) 13 The last of three games on December 23 was the Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl, formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl, played at Texas Christian University's Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. The Mountain West's University of Utah Utes trailed at the half, but beat Conference USA's Golden Hurricane of the University of Tulsa (which, like Utah, was once in the WAC), 25–13. Utah's versatile defensive back Eric Weddle helped lead the Utes by grabbing an interception and scoring a rushing touchdown. Each team earned $600,000 for their conference by participating in the game.

Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii (10–3) 42, Arizona State (7–5) 24 The Christmas Eve tradition known as the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl returned to Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 24 as the host school, the University of Hawaii Warriors, representing the WAC, returning after a one-year absence because of a losing record, defeated the Pac 10's Sun Devils from Arizona State University, 41–24. Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan set a new NCAA record for most touchdown passes in a single season, breaking David Klingler's standard set in 1989 at Houston with his 55th touchdown toss in the second quarter. He then added three more to bring his final total to 58. This was Dirk Koetter's final game as the head coach of ASU, as Dennis Erickson will take over, coming in from Idaho. On top of the $398,000 for each team to divide among fellow conference members, the Pac-10 also gave Arizona State an additional $300,000 in travel expenses as "a special case" exemption. The Warriors' win gave the BCS non-AQ conferences a 3–1 lead in their rivalry.

Motor City Bowl

Central Michigan (9–4) 31, Middle Tennessee (7–5) 14