The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The regular season began on September 2, 2010, and ended on December 11, 2010. The postseason concluded on January 10, 2011, with the BCS National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Auburn Tigers defeated the Oregon Ducks to complete an undefeated season and win their sixth national title in school history.
Rule changes Wedge blocks are now banned on kickoffs. Messages on eye-black, such as those worn by Tim Tebow, Reggie Bush, and Case Keenum are no longer allowed.
Conference realignment
Multiple conferences announced changes in membership throughout 2010, triggering a major realignment that would eventually affect all 11 FBS leagues. Due to conference notice requirements, these changes would not take effect until 2011 at the earliest.
The first change came on June 10, when the Pacific-10 Conference announced that Colorado had accepted their invitation to join from the Big 12.
The following day, June 11, saw two schools change conferences. The Mountain West Conference announced that Boise State had accepted their invitation to join from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), while Nebraska ended its longstanding affiliation with the Big Eight/Big 12 to join the Big Ten Conference. Both moves would take effect starting with the 2011–2012 academic year.
In the following days, it was widely speculated that the five public schools in the Big 12 South Division (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State) would leave for the Pac-10 to create a 16-team "superconference." However, a last-minute deal announced on June 14 saw Texas remain in the Big 12, prompting the other four schools to follow suit. The Pac-10 then extended an invitation to Utah on June 16, who accepted the next day. With the addition of Colorado and Utah, the Pac-10 announced that the conference would change its name to the Pac-12 upon the two new members joining in July 2011.
On August 18, the Mountain West responded to rumors of the imminent departure of Brigham Young by inviting WAC members Fresno State, Nevada, and Utah State. Utah State declined the offer, but Fresno State and Nevada accepted later that day. Following threats of legal action by the WAC, the two schools agreed to stay in the WAC through the 2011–12 season in exchange for a greatly reduced exit fee. BYU officially announced their departure from the Mountain West on September 1. The BYU football team would become an FBS Independent while all other sports would move to the West Coast Conference for the 2011–12 season.
On November 11, the Western Athletic Conference announced that Texas State, then a member of the FCS Southland Conference, and UTSA, which planned to launch a football team in 2011, would upgrade their football programs to FBS level, join the WAC in 2012, and become full FBS members in 2013.
On November 29, TCU announced it would leave the Mountain West to join the Big East in 2012. The Mountain West replaced TCU by adding Hawaii as a football-only member on December 10; Hawaii's other sports would join the Big West Conference.
New and updated stadiums No new stadiums opened in the 2010 season. However, expansion projects at several stadiums were completed in time for the season: Alabama: The seventh major expansion of Bryant–Denny Stadium increased the capacity from 92,138 to 101,821. East Carolina: The east end zone at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium was enclosed, increasing capacity from 43,000 to 50,000. Louisville: A second deck was added to the east side of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, increasing capacity from its original 42,000 to over 56,000. Michigan: Michigan Stadium once again claimed the title of largest college football stadium. The new capacity was officially announced on July 14 as 109,901. Texas Tech: Renovations to Jones AT&T Stadium increased the capacity to 60,454 and a new building on the stadium's eastern side added an additional 26 suites and 500 club seats.
Season notes USC was not eligible to be ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll due to NCAA sanctions. They were also prohibited from playing in a bowl. On September 11, Virginia Tech, then No. 13 in the AP Poll, was stunned at home by in-state FCS team James Madison. The Dukes' 21–16 victory was only the second by an FCS school over a ranked FBS team, after Appalachian State's historic upset of Michigan in 2007. The University of Texas reached an agreement with ESPN to distribute the Longhorn Network on cable systems in the fall of 2011. The deal is for 10 years and guarantees Texas $12 million annually on top of the television revenue UT would receive as part of the Big 12's current television contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox. The Longhorn Network would be the first sports-centric network for a university and was slated to broadcast third-tier programming, but UT men's athletic director DeLoss Dodds has asked the Big 12 to be allowed to air one football game, and a smattering of men's basketball games.ESPN, UT Reportedly Reach Deal To Distribute Longhorn Network The CBS telecast of the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn on November 26, 2010, earned a 7.5 rating, the highest for any game of the 2010 college football season through week 13.
Regular season top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted. Week 1 No. 3 Boise State defeated No. 10 Virginia Tech, 33–30 (FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland) Week 4 No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 10 Arkansas, 24–20 (Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas) Week 5 No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 7 Florida, 31–6 (Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama) No. 4 Oregon defeated No. 9 Stanford, 52–31 (Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon) Week 8 No. 4/5 Auburn defeated No. 6/6 LSU, 24–17 (Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama) Week 10 No. 3/4 TCU defeated No. 5/6 Utah, 47–7 (Rice–Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah) No. 10/12 LSU defeated No. 6/5 Alabama, 24–17 (Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Week 13 No. 2/2 Auburn defeated No. 11/9 Alabama, 28–27 (Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Conference standings
Conference summaries Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the conference championship games were played.
Conference championship games Conference Champion Runner-upScoreOffensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearCoach of the Year ACC No. 12 Virginia Tech No. 20 Florida State 44–33 Tyrod Taylor, QB, Virginia Tech Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson Ralph Friedgen, Maryland Big 12 No. 10 Oklahoma No. 13 Nebraska 23–20 Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State C-USA UCF SMU 17–7 Dwayne Harris, WR/KR, East Carolina (MVP)G.J. Kinne, QB, Tulsa Bruce Miller, DE, UCF George O'Leary, UCF MAC Miami (OH) No. 24 Northern Illinois 26–21 Chad Spann, RB, Northern Illinois Roosevelt Nix, DT, Kent State Mike Haywood, Miami SEC No. 2 Auburn No. 18 South Carolina 56–17 Cam Newton, QB, Auburn Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Other conference champions ConferenceChampionRecordOffensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearCoach of the Year Big EastConnecticut*Pittsburgh #23 West Virginia 8–4 7–5 9–3 Jordan Todman, RB, Connecticut Jabaal Sheard, DE, Pittsburgh Randy Edsall, Connecticut and Charlie Strong, Louisville Big Ten No. 7 Michigan StateNo. 6 Ohio State (vacated)No. 4 Wisconsin* 11–1 11–1 11–1 Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue Mark Dantonio, Michigan State MWC No. 3 TCU 12–0 Andy Dalton, QB, TCU Tank Carder, LB, TCU Brady Hoke, San Diego State Pac-10 No. 1 Oregon 12–0 Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State Chip Kelly, Oregon Sun Belt FIUTroy 6–6 7–5 T. Y. Hilton, WR/KR, FIU (Player of the Year)Bobby Rainey, RB, Western Kentucky (Offensive POY) Jamari Lattimore, DE, Middle Tennessee Mario Cristobal, FIU WAC No. 9 Boise State #25 Hawaii
#14 Nevada 11–1 10–3
12–1 Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State and Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada Chris Carter, DE, Fresno State Chris Ault, Nevada * Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.
In 2011, Ohio State vacated all twelve wins and their share of the Big Ten title from the 2010 season after it was revealed that several players had committed NCAA violations by receiving improper benefits from a local business owner.
Final BCS rankings BCS School Record BCS Bowl Game 1 Auburn 13–0 BCS National Championship 2 Oregon 12–0 BCS National Championship 3 TCU 12–0 Rose 4 Stanford 11–1 Orange 5 Wisconsin 11–1 Rose 6 Ohio State 11–1 Sugar 7 Oklahoma 11–2 Fiesta 8 Arkansas 10–2 Sugar 9 Michigan State 11–1 10 Boise State 11–1 11 LSU 10–2 12 Missouri 10–2 13 Virginia Tech 11–2 Orange 14 Oklahoma State 10–2 15 Nevada 12–1 16 Alabama 9–3 17 Texas A&M 9–3 18 Nebraska 10–3 19 Utah 10–2 20 South Carolina 9–4 21 Mississippi State 8–4 22 West Virginia 9–3 23 Florida State 9–4 24 Hawaii 10–3 25 UCF 10–3
Despite not being in the BCS rankings, Connecticut (8–4) played in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl by virtue of being the Big East Conference champion.
FCS team wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FCS teams.
Bowl games