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.

A total of 34 team-competitive games were played. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, this was the fourth consecutive year that teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games. To fill the 68 available bowl slots, a total of eight teams (12% of all participants) with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all eight had a .500 (6-6) season.

Selection of the teams

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".

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. Two days later, Leach was fired. On December 26, Florida head coach Urban Meyer announced his resignation due to health concerns, effective after the Gators' Sugar Bowl appearance. 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. Meyer returned to his job in time to lead the Gators' 2010 spring practice.

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. NOTE: Rankings from final BCS Standings of December 6, 2009.

Non-BCS ContestsDateBowlLocationTeamsAffiliationsResults12/19New Mexico BowlUniversity StadiumUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerque, New MexicoWyoming (6–6)Fresno State (8–4)MWCWACWyoming 35Fresno State 28St. Petersburg BowlTropicana FieldSt. Petersburg, FloridaRutgers (8–4)UCF (8–4)Big EastC-USARutgers 45UCF 2412/20New Orleans BowlLouisiana SuperdomeNew OrleansMiddle Tennessee (9–3)Southern Miss (7–5)Sun BeltC-USAMiddle Tennessee 42Southern Miss 3212/22Maaco Bowl Las VegasSam Boyd StadiumUniversity of Nevada, Las VegasWhitney, Nevada#14 BYU (10–2) #18 Oregon State (8–4)MWCPac-10BYU 44 Oregon State 2012/23Poinsettia BowlQualcomm StadiumSan Diego#23 Utah (9–3)California (8–4)MWCPac-10Utah 37 California 2712/24Hawaii BowlAloha StadiumHonolulu, HI SMU (7–5)Nevada (8–4)C-USAWACSMU 45 Nevada 1012/26Little Caesars Pizza BowlFord FieldDetroit Marshall (6–6)Ohio (9–4) C-USAMAC Marshall 21Ohio 17Meineke Car Care BowlBank of America StadiumCharlotte, North Carolina #17 Pittsburgh (9–3)North Carolina (8–4) Big East ACC Pittsburgh 19 North Carolina 17Emerald BowlAT&T ParkSan Francisco #24 USC (8–4)Boston College (8–4) Pac-10ACC USC 24Boston College 1312/27Music City BowlLP FieldNashville, Tennessee Clemson (8–5)Clemson Tigers News, Scores, Schedule, Stats - Rivals.comKentucky (7–5)John Clay: After day of tribulation, football Cats still appear headed to Music City | KentuckySports: The Latest | Kentucky.com ACCSEC Clemson 21Kentucky 1312/28Independence BowlIndependence StadiumShreveport, Louisiana Georgia (7–5)UT Bowl games are set Texas A&M (6–6) SECBig 12 Georgia 44Texas A&M 2012/29EagleBank BowlRFK Stadium Washington, D.C. UCLA (6–6) Temple (9–3) Pac-10MAC UCLA 30Temple 21Champs Sports BowlCitrus BowlOrlando, Florida#25 Wisconsin (9–3)#15 Miami (FL) (9–3)Big Ten ACCWisconsin 20Miami (FL) 1412/30Humanitarian BowlBronco StadiumBoise State UniversityBoise, IdahoIdaho (7–5) Bowling Green (7–5)WAC MACIdaho 43 Bowling Green 42Holiday BowlQualcomm StadiumSan Diego#22 Nebraska (9–4)#20 Arizona (8–4)Big 12Pac-10Nebraska 33Arizona 012/31Chick-fil-A Bowl Coaches Media Day Armed Forces BowlAmon G. Carter StadiumTexas Christian UniversityFort Worth, TexasAir Force (7–5)Houston (10–3)MWCC-USAAir Force 47Houston 20Sun BowlSun Bowl StadiumUniversity of Texas at El PasoEl Paso, TexasOklahoma (7–5)#21 Stanford (8–4)Big 12Pac-10Oklahoma 31Stanford 27Texas BowlReliant StadiumHoustonNavy (9–4)Missouri (8–4) IndependentBig 12Navy 35Missouri 13Insight BowlSun Devil StadiumArizona State UniversityTempe, ArizonaIowa State (6–6)Associated Press Minnesota (6–6)Big 12Big TenIowa State 14Minnesota 13Chick-fil-A BowlGeorgia DomeAtlanta#11 Virginia Tech (9–3)Tennessee (7–5)ACCSECVirginia Tech 37Tennessee 141/1Outback BowlRaymond James StadiumTampa, FloridaAuburn (7–5)Northwestern (8–4)SECBig TenAuburn 38Northwestern 35 (OT)Gator BowlJacksonville Municipal StadiumJacksonville, FloridaFlorida State (6–6) #16 West Virginia (9–3)ACCBig EastFlorida State 33West Virginia 21Capital One BowlCitrus BowlOrlando, Florida#13 Penn State (10–2)#12 LSU (9–3)Big TenSECPenn State 19LSU 171/2International BowlRogers CentreToronto, Ontario, CanadaSouth Florida (7–5)NIU (7–5)Big EastMACSouth Florida 27NIU 3PapaJohns.com BowlLegion FieldBirmingham, AlabamaUConn (7–5) South Carolina (7–5)Big East SECUConn 20 South Carolina 7Cotton Bowl ClassicCowboys StadiumArlington, TexasOle Miss (8–4)#19 Oklahoma State (9–3)SECBig 12Ole Miss 21Oklahoma State 7Liberty BowlLiberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TennesseeArkansas (7–5) East Carolina (9–4)SECC-USAArkansas 20East Carolina 17 (OT)Alamo BowlAlamodomeSan AntonioTexas Tech (8–4)Michigan State (6–6)Big 12Big TenTexas Tech 41Michigan State 311/6GMAC BowlLadd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AlabamaCentral Michigan (11–2)Troy (9–3) MACSun BeltCentral Michigan 44Troy 41 (2 OT)Bowl Championship Series 2010 ScheduleDateBowlLocationTeamsAffiliationsResults1/1Rose BowlRose BowlPasadena, California#8 Ohio State (10–2)#7 Oregon (10–2)Big TenPac-10Ohio State 26Oregon 17Sugar BowlLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans#5 Florida (12–1)#3 Cincinnati (12–0)SECBig EastFlorida 51Cincinnati 241/4Fiesta BowlUniversity of Phoenix StadiumGlendale, Arizona#6 Boise State (13–0)#4 TCU (12–0)WACMWCBoise State 17TCU 101/5Orange BowlLand Shark StadiumMiami Gardens, Florida#10 Iowa (10–2)#9 Georgia Tech (11–2)Big TenACCIowa 24Georgia Tech 141/7BCS National Championship GameRose BowlPasadena, California#1 Alabama (13–0)#2 Texas (13–0)SECBig 12Alabama 37Texas 21

Post-BCS all-star games DateAll-Star GameLocationScoreRef.January 23 East–West Shrine Game Citrus BowlOrlando, Florida East 13, West 10January 31 Under Armour Senior Bowl Ladd-Peebles Stadium,Mobile, AlabamaNorth 31, South 13February 6 Texas vs The Nation Sun Bowl StadiumUniversity of Texas at El PasoEl Paso, TexasTexas 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