2010 Pinstripe Bowl

The 2010 New Era Pinstripe Bowl was the first edition of this college football bowl game, and was played at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York. The game started at 3:20 p.m. ET on December 30, 2010, and was telecast on ESPN. The game featured the Syracuse Orange of the Big East Conference and the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. New Era Cap Company was the title sponsor of the game. It ended with Syracuse defeating Kansas State, 36-34.

The game was played four days after one of the worst blizzards in New York City history, affecting travel for the teams and their fans.

The call
With 1:13 left in the game, Kansas State's Adrian Hilburn scored a 30-yard touchdown to pull KSU within two points of a tie. Following the score, Hilburn made a military hand salute toward the crowd and was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Because of the 15-yard penalty, Kansas State had to attempt a two-point conversion from the 17-yard line. The conversion failed, accounting for the margin in the final score. The call was considered highly controversial, and according to ESPN determined the outcome of the game.

Aftermath
Due to the impact from this call, the NCAA chose in the next year's rule changes to not penalize celebrating in general but to penalize only taunting. The call was called "one of the most infamous plays of the college football season in 2010" and was given the name "The Bronx Salute." It later was used as an example of incorrect interpretation of the new celebration rules.

Kansas State Wildcats
Kansas State officially accepted an invitation to the bowl on December 3, 2010, after completing a 7-5 regular season. The bowl marked the Wildcats return to post-season for the first time since 2006. It was the 14th bowl game in school history for K-State. Coach Bill Snyder coached the Wildcats in all but two of their previous bowls.

Syracuse Orange
Syracuse officially accepted an invitation to the bowl on December 3, 2010. Second year head coach Doug Marrone, who grew up in the Bronx, just minutes from the old Yankee Stadium led the Orange to a 7-5 record and their first bowl game since the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl. Syracuse was required to win seven games in order to become bowl-eligible as two of their victories came over Football Championship Subdivision opponents. Only one of the victories is allowed to count toward bowl eligibility.