2008 – 09 NCAA football bowl games The 2008 – 09 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Post - Season , which followed the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season contained a record number of bowl game s scheduled in history , as a total of 37 bowl games ( 34 team - competitive and 3 all - star ) were played starting on December 20 , 2008 with four contests , and concluded with the Texas vs . The Nation Game in El Paso , Texas , played on January 31 , 2009 at Sun Bowl Stadium . For the first time in 62 years , however , the Hula Bowl was not a part of the post - season as it was cancelled indefinitely . The NCAA divided Division I schools into two divisions starting in 1978 : The Football Bowl Subdivision ( known as Division I - A from 1978 through 2005 ) does not have a playoff system , and rewards schools which have football programs with outstanding records on the field during a season to play in bowl games as a reward . 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 exceptions of the Ivy League , which abstains from football playoff participation , and the Southwestern Athletic Conference , who have their own playoff in this division . Of the 34 team - competitive games scheduled , two were new for the 2008 – 09 season : The EagleBank Bowl , played in Washington , D . C . at RFK Stadium , which was the first Bowl Game to be played on December 20 with an 11 AM kickoff and The magicJack St . Petersburg Bowl , played in the Florida namesake city at Tropicana Field . This meant that a total of 68 teams out of 119 in the FBS played in bowl games , provided they met certain criteria listed below . Selection of the teams . NCAA bylaws say that a school with a record of 6 – 6 in regular season play and at least 5 wins over FBS teams are eligible only after conferences cannot fill out available positions for bowl games with teams having seven ( or more ) wins automatically eligible , excluding games played in Hawaii and conference championship games in the ACC , Big 12 , Conference USA , MAC and the SEC . After the final regular - season games on December 7 , 2008 , four conferences — the Pac - 10 , the SEC , the Big 12 , and the Big Ten — did not have enough teams to fill their bowl game allotments . The Pac - 10 had seven contracted bowl slots with only five teams eligible . The last two bowls in the Pac - 10 pecking order — the Hawaii Bowl ( sixth ) and Poinsettia Bowl ( seventh ) — had contingency contracts with other conferences , respectively Conference USA and the WAC , to select one of the secondary conference ' s teams should the Pac - 10 fail to supply enough eligible teams to supply that bowl . However , because C - USA had only six bowl - eligible teams to fill its six primary bowl slots , the Pac - 10 / C - USA slot in the Hawaii Bowl became an at - large spot , and was awarded to Notre Dame . The SEC and Big 12 failed to produce enough teams to fill their requirements even before both conferences had two teams selected to BCS games , while the Big Ten was unable to fill its requirements once a second team from that conference ( Ohio State ) was selected to a BCS game . The Atlantic Coast Conference sent an NCAA - record ten teams to bowl games this season . Since 72 teams were bowl - eligible , but only 68 bowl slots were available , four teams were left out of bowl games . Unlike in 2007 , when an eight - win Troy team was left home for the postseason , no team with seven or more wins went without a bowl bid this year . All four uninvited teams — Arkansas State , Bowling Green , Louisiana - Lafayette , and San José State — had six wins . Results . " NOTE : Rankings from final BCS Standings of December 7 , 2008 . " Conference bowl representation . NOTE : BCS teams are listed in " italics " .