2009 – 10 NCAA football bowl games The 2009 – 10 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Post - Season followed the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season . It comprises 34 team - competitive bowl game s , 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 . 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 . 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 coach ing changes between the regular season and the bowl season , the following teams played their postseason contests with interim head coaches : In addition , the following coach retired , but worked his team ' s bowl game : 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 . " Post - BCS all - star games . Bowl Challenge Cup standings . • - Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible . < br > † - Bowl Challenge Cup winner .