2011–12 NCAA football bowl games

Series of college football bowl games played at the conclusion of the 2011 season August 2023 2011 Bowl sites by state September 1, 2011 – December 10, 2011 35 5 December 17, 2011 January 9, 2012 (team-competitive) 2012 BCS National Championship Mercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans, Louisiana Alabama Crimson Tide (tie) C-USA and MAC Big Ten 10 4 6 4 SEC 9 6 3 5 ACC 8 2 6 3 Big 12 8 6 2 4 Pac-12 7 2 5 3 Big East 5 3 2 2 Conference USA 5 4 1 2 MAC 5 4 1 0 Mountain West 5 2 3 2 Sun Belt 3 1 2 0 WAC 3 0 3 0 Independents 2 1 1 0 The 2011–12 NCAA football bowl games were a series of college football bowl games. They concluded the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and included 35 team-competitive games and five all-star games. The games began on December 17, 2011, and, aside from the all-star games, concluded with the 2012 BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans, that was played on January 9, 2012. The total of 35 team-competitive bowls was unchanged from the previous year. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, this was the sixth consecutive year that teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games. To fill the 70 available team-competitive bowl slots, a total of 14 teams (20% of all participants) with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—13 had a .500 (6-6) season and, for the first time ever, a team with a sub-.500 (6-7) season was invited to a bowl game. Selection of the teams Bowl eligibility Automatic bids to college bowl games In the previous year's bowl cycle, the NCAA scrapped a bylaw which mandated that a school with a non-losing record of 6–6 in regular season play were not eligible unless conferences could not fill out available bowl positions with teams with a winning record of seven (or more) wins. The new rule was stretched further in this 2011–12 bowl season when a team with a losing record, the 6–7 UCLA Bruins, were invited to a bowl game. The Bruins, the Pac-12 South Division winners, finished 6–6 but the USC Trojans (10–2), winners of the division, were barred from postseason play because of the University of Southern California athletics scandal of the mid-2000s, and the resulting two-year ban. The conference and the school applied for a waiver, which the NCAA accepted, based on their bowl eligibility after the sixth win, but having to play in an unmerited conference championship game.https://www.espn.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/30661/losing-record-ucla-still-wants-a-bowl Losing Record? UCLA Still Wants a Bowl Miller, Ted November 29, 2011 ESPN December 8, 2011 This interpretation of policy ultimately led to Western Kentucky, with a 7–5 winning record, or Ball State, with a 6–6 non-losing record, going uninvited. Bowl eligibility Eligible ACC (8): Clemson (ACC Champions), Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech (Coastal Division Champions), North Carolina, Florida State, Virginia, Wake Forest, NC State Big East (5): Cincinnati (Big East co-champions), West Virginia (Big East co-champions), Rutgers, Louisville (Big East co-champions), Pittsburgh Big Ten (10): Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin (Big Ten Champions), Nebraska, Michigan State (Legends Division Champions), Ohio State, Northwestern, Purdue Big 12 (8): Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champions), Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas A&M, Missouri Conference USA (5): Houston (C-USA West Division Champions), Southern Miss (C-USA Champions), Tulsa, SMU, Marshall Independents (2): BYU, Notre Dame MAC (6): NIU (Mid-American Conference Champions), Ohio (MAC East Division Champions), Ball State, Toledo (MAC West Division Co-Champions), Temple, Western Michigan Mountain West (5): Air Force, Boise State, TCU (Mountain West Champions), San Diego State, Wyoming Pac-12 (7): Stanford (Pac-12 North Division Co-Champions), Oregon (Pac-12 Champions), Arizona State, Washington, California, Utah, UCLA (Pac-12 South Division Champions, 6–7, bowl-eligible per waiver)https://www.espn.com/los-angeles/ncf/story/_/id/7300428/ncaa-approves-ucla-bruins-request-bowl-waiver NCAA Approves UCLA Bowl Waiver Peter Yoon ESPN LA November 30, 2011 December 1, 2011 SEC (9): LSU (SEC Champions), Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia (SEC East Division Champions), Auburn, Florida, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State Sun Belt (4): Louisiana–Lafayette, Arkansas State (Sun Belt Champions), Florida International, Western Kentucky WAC (3): Louisiana Tech (WAC Champions), Nevada, Utah State Number of bowl berths available: 70 Number of teams assured of bowl eligibility: 71 (72, with 6–7 UCLA becoming bowl-eligible per NCAA waiver) Western Kentucky (7–5) and Ball State (6–6) were not extended invitations to bowl games. Teams unable to become bowl-eligible ACC (4): Boston College, Maryland & Duke (by record), Miami (FL) (via self-imposed sanctions) Big East (3): South Florida, Syracuse, Connecticut Big Ten (2): Indiana, Minnesota Big 12 (2): Kansas, Texas Tech C-USA (7): UAB, Memphis, Tulane, Rice, UCF, UTEP, East Carolina Independents (2): Army & Navy MAC (7): Akron, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Miami (OH) & Kent State. Eastern Michigan was 6–6 but had two FCS wins. Mountain West (3): New Mexico, UNLV & Colorado State Pac-12 (5): Colorado, Oregon State, Washington State & Arizona (by record), USC (via NCAA sanctions) SEC (3): Ole Miss, Kentucky & Tennessee Sun Belt (5): Florida Atlantic, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, Troy & North Texas WAC (5): Idaho, San Jose State, Fresno State, Hawaii & New Mexico State Fiesta Bowl controversy Fiesta Bowl#Financial scandals In March 2011, because of illegal campaign contributions to politicians friendly to the Fiesta Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors fired bowl CEO John Junker.https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=6270459 Fiesta Bowl fires CEO John Junker March 29, 2011 AP The scandal threatened the Fiesta Bowl's status as a BCS game for the 2011–12 season, as the BCS said it might replace the bowl in its lineup if officials could not convince them it should remain.BCS confident it could cut ties with Fiesta Bowl if deemed necessaryWetzel, Dan, "BCS conducts shallow probe as party rages on", Yahoo! Sports, retrieved on 31 March 2011. In May 2011, the BCS fined the Fiesta Bowl organization US $1 million without removing their BCS spot. New bowl sponsors Meineke has transferred their sponsorship from the game in Charlotte to the Houston-based game previously known as the Texas Bowl, and was renamed the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. Belk Department Stores assumes the title sponsorship for the North Carolina contest, renaming that game the Belk Bowl. The Idaho Potato Commission takes over as the title sponsor for the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho and has been renamed the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, while Montreal-based Gildan, a maker of T-shirts, underwear and socks, will begin sponsorship of the previously unsponsored New Mexico Bowl this season. All of the bowl games will have a presenting or title sponsor. Moratorium on new bowl games The NCAA has placed a three-year moratorium, starting with the 2011–12 bowl season, on any new bowl games. This follows the addition of two new games (Pinstripe Bowl, TicketCity Bowl) for the 2010–11 bowl season, bringing the total number of bowl games to 35. 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 better) 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 to allow teams with even worse (5–7) losing records to fill bowl selection slots in 2012–13. Schedule The official schedule was released June 17, 2011.https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=6672862 2011–12 Bowl Schedule ESPN June 17, 2011 Though it is traditionally the date for many bowl games to be played, none were held on January 1, 2012, due to that date falling on a Sunday and conflicting with the National Football League's slate of Sunday games.http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2011/06/17/jan_1_2012_the.html Texas Longhorns: Football, Basketball, Baseball and more Statesman.com 2012-01-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20110620190635/http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2011/06/17/jan_1_2012_the.html 2011-06-20 dead Subsequently, the Fiesta Bowl moved from January 5 to January 2, in its traditional spot following the Rose Bowl, after the 2011 NFL lockout was settled. The Monday evening spot was held open for a possible Monday Night Football game.http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/29532522/31381391 Fiesta Bowl likely on the move - to Jan. 2, 2012 - CBSSports.com 2012-01-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20120425052913/http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/29532522/31381391 2012-04-25 dead NOTE: All times are US EST (UTC −5). Non-BCS games DateBowlLocationTelevisionTeamsAffiliationsResults Dec. 17New Mexico BowlUniversity StadiumUniversity of New Mexico<br/ >Albuquerque, NM2:00 pmESPNWyoming Cowboys (8–4)Temple Owls (8–4)MWCMACWyoming 15Temple 37Famous Idaho Potato BowlBronco StadiumBoise State UniversityBoise, ID5:30 pmOhio Bobcats (9–4)Utah State Aggies (7–5)MACWACOhio 24Utah State 23New Orleans BowlMercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA9:00 pmSan Diego State Aztecs (8–4)Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (8–4)MWCSun BeltSan Diego State 30Louisiana–Lafayette 32 Dec. 20Beef 'O' Brady's BowlTropicana FieldSt. Petersburg, FL8:00 pmFIU Golden Panthers (8–4)Marshall Thundering Herd (6–6)Sun BeltC-USAFIU 10Marshall 20 Dec. 21Poinsettia BowlSDCCU StadiumSan Diego, CA8:00 pm#18 TCU Horned Frogs (10–2)Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8–4)MWCWACTCU 31Louisiana Tech 24 Dec. 22Maaco Bowl Las VegasSam Boyd StadiumUniversity of Nevada, Las VegasWhitney, NV8:00 pm#7 Boise State Broncos (11–1)Arizona State Sun Devils (6–6)MWCPac-12Boise State 56Arizona State 24 Dec. 24Hawaii BowlAloha StadiumHonolulu, HI8:00 pmNevada Wolf Pack (7–5)#21 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (11–2)WACC-USANevada 17Southern Miss 24 Dec. 26Independence BowlIndependence StadiumShreveport, LA5:00 pmESPN2Missouri Tigers (7–5)North Carolina Tar Heels (7–5)Big 12ACCMissouri 41North Carolina 24 Dec. 27Little Caesars Pizza BowlFord FieldDetroit, MI4:30 pmESPNPurdue Boilermakers (6–6)Western Michigan Broncos (7–5)Big TenMACPurdue 37Western Michigan 32Belk BowlBank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC8:00 pmNorth Carolina State Wolfpack (7–5)Louisville Cardinals (7–5)ACCBig EastNorth Carolina State 31Louisville 24 Dec. 28Military BowlRFK StadiumWashington, DC4:30 pmAir Force Falcons (7–5)Toledo Rockets (8–4)Navy, which had the primary contract for this slot, was not bowl-eligible. For the 2011 season, the TicketCity Bowl and Military Bowl have contingency contracts with the Big 12 if those games' primary partners are not available. Since the TicketCity Bowl's primary partners (the Big Ten and C-USA) both filled their slots, Navy's Military Bowl slot was passed to the Big 12; however the Big 12 did not have enough teams to fulfill their contract, so Toledo from the MAC was invited.MWCMACAir Force 41Toledo 42Holiday BowlSnapdragon StadiumSan Diego, CA8:00 pm#24 Texas Longhorns (7–5)California Golden Bears (7–5)Big 12Pac-12Texas 21 California 10 Dec. 29Champs Sports BowlCitrus BowlOrlando, FL5:30 pmFlorida State Seminoles (8–4)Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–4)ACCIndependentFlorida State 18Notre Dame 14Alamo BowlAlamodomeSan Antonio, TX9:00 pm#12 Baylor Bears (9–3)Washington Huskies (7–5)Big 12Pac-12Baylor 67Washington 56 Dec. 30Armed Forces BowlGerald J. Ford StadiumUniversity Park, TXNoonBYU Cougars (9–3)Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8–4)IndependentC-USABYU 24Tulsa 21Pinstripe BowlYankee StadiumBronx, NY3:20 pmIowa State Cyclones (6–6)Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8–4)Big 12Big EastIowa State 13Rutgers 27Music City BowlLP FieldNashville, TN6:40 pmWake Forest Demon Deacons (6–6)Mississippi State Bulldogs (6–6)ACCSECWake Forest 17Mississippi State 23Insight BowlSun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ10:00 pmIowa Hawkeyes (7–5)#14 Oklahoma Sooners (9–3)Big TenBig 12Iowa 14Oklahoma 31 Dec. 31Meineke Car Care Bowl of TexasReliant StadiumHouston, TXNoonTexas A&M Aggies (6–6)Northwestern Wildcats (6–6)Big 12Big TenTexas A&M 33Northwestern 22Sun BowlSun Bowl StadiumUniversity of Texas El PasoEl Paso, TX2:00 pmCBSGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8–4)Utah Utes (7–5)ACCPac-12Georgia Tech 27Utah 30 (OT)AutoZone Liberty BowlLiberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN3:30 pmABCCincinnati Bearcats (9–3)Vanderbilt Commodores (6–6)Big EastSECCincinnati 31Vanderbilt 24Kraft Fight Hunger BowlAT&T ParkSan Francisco, CA3:30 pmESPN Illinois Fighting Illini (6–6)Army, which had the primary contract for this slot, was not bowl-eligible. The ACC had a contingency contract for the slot, but could only fill it if it produced nine bowl-eligible teams. Miami's self-imposed bowl ban made it impossible for the conference to fill that slot.UCLA Bruins (6–7)Big TenPac-12Illinois 20UCLA 14Chick-fil-A BowlGeorgia DomeAtlanta, GA7:30 pm#25 Auburn Tigers (7–5)Virginia Cavaliers (8–4)SECACCAuburn 43Virginia 24 Jan. 2TicketCity BowlCotton BowlDallas, TXNoonESPNU#22 Penn State Nittany Lions (9–3)#19 Houston Cougars (12–1)Big TenC-USAPenn State 14Houston 30Outback BowlRaymond James StadiumTampa, FL1:00 pmABC#17 Michigan State Spartans (10–3)#16 Georgia Bulldogs (10–3)Big TenSECMichigan State 33Georgia 30 (3OT)Capital One BowlCitrus BowlOrlando, FL1:00 pmESPN#20 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9–3)#9 South Carolina Gamecocks (10–2)Big TenSECNebraska 13South Carolina 30Gator BowlEverBank FieldJacksonville, FL1:00 pmESPN2Ohio State Buckeyes (6–6)Florida Gators (6–6)Big TenSECOhio State 17Florida 24 Jan. 6Cotton Bowl ClassicCowboys StadiumArlington, TX8:00 pmFOX#8 Kansas State Wildcats (10–2)#6 Arkansas Razorbacks (10–2)Big 12SECKansas State 16Arkansas 29 Jan. 7BBVA Compass BowlLegion FieldBirmingham, AL1:00 pmESPNSMU Mustangs (7–5)Pittsburgh Panthers (6–6)C-USABig EastSMU 28Pittsburgh 6 Jan. 8GoDaddy.com BowlLadd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL9:00 pmNIU Huskies (10–3)Arkansas State Red Wolves (10–2)MACSun BeltNIU 38Arkansas State 20 n 2012 Bowl Championship Series schedule DateGameSiteTelevisionTeamsAffiliationsResultsJan. 2Rose BowlRose BowlPasadena, CA5:00 pmESPN #10 Wisconsin Badgers (11–2)#5 Oregon Ducks (11–2)Big TenPac-12Wisconsin 38Oregon 45Fiesta BowlUniversity of Phoenix StadiumGlendale, AZ8:30 pm#3 Oklahoma State Cowboys (11–1)#4 Stanford Cardinal (11–1)Big 12Pac-12Oklahoma State 41Stanford 38 (OT)Jan. 3Sugar BowlMercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA8:30 pm#13 Michigan Wolverines (10–2)#11 Virginia Tech Hokies (11–2)Big TenACCMichigan 23Virginia Tech 20 (OT) Jan. 4Orange BowlSun Life StadiumMiami Gardens, FL8:30 pm#15 Clemson Tigers (10–3)#23 West Virginia Mountaineers (9–3)ACCBig EastClemson 33West Virginia 70 Jan. 9BCS National Championship GameMercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA8:30 pm#1 LSU Tigers (13–0)#2 Alabama Crimson Tide (11–1)SECSECLSU 0Alabama 21 Post-BCS all-star games DateGameSiteTelevisionParticipantsResultsJan. 16Casino del Sol College All-Star GameKino Veterans Memorial StadiumTucson, AZ6:00 pmFox Sports Arizona and Fox College SportsStars vs. StripesStripes 24Stars 21Jan. 212012 East–West Shrine GameTropicana FieldSt. Petersburg, FL4:00 pmNFL Network East Team vs.West TeamWest 20East 17NFLPA Collegiate BowlThe Home Depot CenterCarson, CA6:00 pmNBC Sports NetworkAmerican vs. NationalNational 20American 14The Battle of FloridaFAU StadiumFlorida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, FL8:00 pmFox College SportsNorth Florida vs.South FloridaNorth Florida 51South Florida 3Jan. 282012 Senior BowlLadd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL4:00 pmNFL NetworkNorth Team vs.South TeamNorth 23South 13 Note: The NFLPA Texas vs The Nation game was not played in 2012, and the NFLPA instead sponsored the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. References 30em Further reading http://www.espn.com/college-football/feature/video?id=7381244 ESPN.com's 2011-12 All-Bowl Team ESPN January 2012 January 10, 2019