2010 – 11 NCAA football bowl games The 2010 – 11 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season and included 35 team - competitive bowl game s and four all - star games . The games began play with three bowls on December 18 , 2010 and included the 2011 BCS National Championship Game in Glendale , Arizona played on January 10 at the University of Phoenix Stadium . The bowl season concluded with the East - West Shrine Game , the Eastham Energy All - Star Game , the Senior Bowl , the Dixie Gridiron Classic , and the NFLPA Game . One bowl , the Toronto - based International Bowl , has ceased operations . Selection of the teams . In a significant change from the 2009 – 10 bowl cycle , the NCAA scrapped a bylaw which mandated that a school with a record of 6 – 6 in regular season play was eligible only if conferences could not 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 . This change in policy ultimately led to Temple — a team that went 8 – 4 in the regular season , including a win over Big East BCS representative UConn — going uninvited . On June 10 , Southern California was declared ineligible for two years as a result of the eligibility of Reggie Bush from 2003 through 2005 . While the program is appealing their 2011 - 12 eligibility , they have decided to accept the penalty for this season , snapping a nine - season streak of bowl appearances . Eligible teams . " Note : Neither Temple nor Western Michigan , both from the MAC , was selected for a bowl game , despite being bowl - eligible . " New bowls , sponsors , and stadiums in 2010 – 11 . New games . Two new games were played this season . The Cotton Bowl in Fair Park , the former home of the Cotton Bowl Classic , became the site of the TicketCity Bowl , on New Years Day 2011 , with the Big Ten , the Big 12 , and Conference USA ( in alternating seasons ) providing opponents , while Yankee Stadium hosted the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl on December 30 , 2010 , pitting teams from the Big East and Big 12 . This contest became the first bowl game in the Metropolitan New York area since the Garden State Bowl , and the first in New York City proper since the Gotham Bowl was played in the original Yankee Stadium . Two bowl games that were proposed — the Cure Bowl , which would have pitted members of Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference in a contest at Bright House Networks Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando , Florida , and the Christmas Bowl , scheduled to be played in Los Angeles — were not certified by the NCAA on April 23 , 2010 . The International Bowl , played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto from 2007 to 2010 , was discontinued after the Big East affiliated with the Pinstripe Bowl . With this year ' s expansion to 35 bowl games , the NCAA has placed a three - year moratorium , starting with the 2011 - 12 bowl season , on any new bowl games . The expansion to 70 teams required to fill these 35 bowl games has challenged the ability to actually find enough teams with winning ( 7 - 5 or higher ) records to fill bowl slots . Teams with non - winning ( 6 - 6 ) and losing ( 6 - 7 ) records have participated in bowl games since the expansion to 35 games . By the 2012 - 13 bowl season , with multiple teams ineligible due to sanctions , the NCAA was forced to anticipate a need for teams with even worse ( 5 - 7 ) losing records to fill bowl selection slots in 2012 - 13 . New sponsors . A total of nine games had new sponsors . Two BCS games — the Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl — lost their sponsors . After more than two decades , FedEx dropped its sponsorship of the Orange Bowl , which now has Discover Financial as its title sponsor starting in 2011 for five games ( including the 2013 BCS Championship ) over four years . The Rose Bowl lost sponsor Citi , and became sponsored by Vizio through 2014 , including the 2014 BCS Championship . In non - BCS games , Kraft Foods took over as sponsor of the former Emerald Bowl at AT & T Park and renamed it the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl , which will benefit food banks and Feeding America under a three - year contract . Bridgepoint Education replaced Pacific Life for the Holiday Bowl played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego . Terms of the deal were not disclosed . South Korea n automobile maker Hyundai supplanted Helen of Troy ' s Brut cologne brand as sponsor of the Sun Bowl played in El Paso , Texas , and will continue to do for four years . Northrop Grumman became the sponsor of the former EagleBank Bowl in Washington , DC , and renamed it the Military Bowl , while the Birmingham - based event formerly called the PapaJohns . com Bowl will be now sponsored by BBVA Compass Bank , and internet domain owner GoDaddy . com took over sponsorship of the former GMAC Bowl . Finally , insurance giant Progressive assumed sponsorship of the Gator Bowl on New Year ' s Day in Jacksonville after a four - year run as sponsor by Konica Minolta ended in 2010 . One postseason all - star game changed both its location and name . The Texas vs . the Nation Game was renamed the NFLPA Game and moved from El Paso to the Alamodome in San Antonio . The game is named after the new title sponsor , the National Football League Players Association . The game still retained the old " Texas vs . the Nation " format used in all of the other previous games . New site . One previous bowl had a different venue beginning in the 2010 - 2011 bowl game season . The Armed Forces Bowl , which was held at Amon G . Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth since its inception in 2003 , was displaced due to a renovation project that started immediately after TCU ' s last home game of the season . The project was not expected to be complete until 2012 . As a result , the 2010 and 2011 editions of the game were moved to Gerald J . Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in the Dallas enclave of University Park . Television . ESPN took over coverage of the entire Bowl Championship Series starting this year , and also began airing the Rose Bowl Game under a new four - year contract that is separate from the BCS . Additionally , a new BCS logo was unveiled during the contest between Alabama and Texas . This will mark the first time the games have not been available on broadcast television since the medium began broadcasting the games . ESPN networks will also take over coverage of the Gator Bowl ( previously on CBS ) and Capital One Bowl ( previously on ABC ) . As a result of the changes , only three bowl games aired on broadcast television : the Hyundai Sun Bowl on CBS New Year ' s Eve , the Outback Bowl on ABC New Year ' s Day , and the AT & T Cotton Bowl Classic on Fox January 7 . All other bowl games were broadcast on one of the ESPN networks , not counting all - star games . Changing landscapes of conferences . The 2010 – 11 bowl season was the last of several schools in the current conferences configurations . In May and June 2010 , reports surfaced that seven or eight schools would leave the Big 12 Conference ( which was originally formed from the old Big Eight Conference and four of the schools from the defunct Southwest Conference - Texas , Texas A & M , Texas Tech and Baylor ) to go to new conferences . On June 6 , Colorado , Oklahoma , Oklahoma State , Texas , Texas A & M and Texas Tech ( effectively the Big 12 South Division minus Baylor plus the North Division ' s Colorado ) were rumored to have been invited to join the Pacific - 10 Conference . On June 10 , Colorado announced its intention to join the Pacific - 10 Conference , effective 2012 ( later changed to 2011 ) . Nebraska announced their departure from the Big 12 on June 11 , joining the eleven - school Big Ten Conference , effective July 1 , 2011 , thereby leaving the Big 12 with ten schools and the Big Ten with 12 schools . On June 11 , Boise State announced their intentions to leave the WAC and join the Mountain West Conference . In August 2010 , WAC members Nevada and Fresno State followed suit , leaving the WAC with six teams . Boise State will join the MWC in 2011 , with Fresno State and Nevada following in 2012 . The Pac - 10 added Utah from the MWC on June 17 , effective 2011 , expanding the Pacific - 10 Conference to twelve teams , with the conference officially becoming the Pacific - 12 Conference in July 2011 . The Big 12 will remain intact ( sans Nebraska and Colorado ) as a ten - team league , discontinuing their championship game following the 2010 contest at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington , Texas , in which Oklahoma defeated departing member Nebraska . Starting in 2011 , championship games in both the Big Ten ( at Lucas Oil Stadium ) and the Pac - 12 ( at the home stadium of the school with the best conference record ) will decide which team will represent their conferences in the Rose Bowl Game . The next conference movements came on November 11 , when the WAC added two new football members in Texas State and UTSA , both FCS schools from the Southland Conference . Texas State had an established football program , while UTSA was slated to begin full FCS play in 2011 . Both schools will now upgrade their football programs to FBS level , join the WAC for all sports in 2012 , and become full FBS members in 2013 . Then , on November 29 , TCU announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference for all sports ; it will officially leave the MWC in 2012 . Later , on December 10 , Hawaii announced they would leave the WAC and join the Mountain West as a football - only member and the Big West Conference for other sports . Schedule . " NOTE : . All times US EST ( UTC - 5 ) . "