Template:Infobox college football bowl games The 2011–12 NCAA football bowl games was 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.
Selection of the teams[]
Number of bowl teams per state.
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 claimed that they would have finished their season a non-winning 6–6 (rather than a losing 6-7) if they had not been forced to play and lose their conference championship game when the USC Trojans (10–2) were barred from postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.[1]
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): Northern Illinois (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) [2]
- 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, Hawaiʻi & New Mexico State
Fiesta Bowl controversy[]
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.[3] 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.[4][5] 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.[6] Though it is traditionally the date for many bowl games to be played, none will be held on January 1, due to that date being on a Sunday and conflict with the National Football League's slate of Sunday games.[7]
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.[8]
NOTE: All times are US EST (UTC −5).
Non-BCS games[]
- ↑ Miller, Ted (November 29, 2011). "Losing Record? UCLA Still Wants a Bowl". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/30661/losing-record-ucla-still-wants-a-bowl. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
- ↑ Yoon, Peter (November 30, 2011). "NCAA Approves UCLA Bowl Waiver". ESPN LA. http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/story/_/id/7300428/ncaa-approves-ucla-bruins-request-bowl-waiver. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
- ↑ "Fiesta Bowl fires CEO John Junker", AP, March 29, 2011, http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6270459
- ↑ BCS confident it could cut ties with Fiesta Bowl if deemed necessary
- ↑ Wetzel, Dan, "BCS conducts shallow probe as party rages on", Yahoo! Sports, retrieved on 31 March 2011.
- ↑ "2011–12 Bowl Schedule". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6672862. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
- ↑ http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2011/06/17/jan_1_2012_the.html
- ↑ http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/29532522/31381391
2012 Bowl Championship Series schedule[]
| Date | Game | Site | Television | Teams | Affiliations | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 2 | Rose Bowl presented by Vizio | Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA 5:00 pm |
ESPN | #10 Wisconsin Badgers (11–2) #5 Oregon Ducks (11–2) |
Big Ten Pac-12 |
Wisconsin 38 Oregon 45 |
| Tostitos Fiesta Bowl | University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ 8:30 pm |
#3 Oklahoma State Cowboys (11–1) #4 Stanford Cardinal (11–1) |
Big 12 Pac-12 |
Oklahoma State 41 (OT) Stanford 38 | ||
| Jan. 3 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm |
#13 Michigan Wolverines (10–2) #11 Virginia Tech Hokies (11–2) |
Big Ten ACC |
Michigan 23 (OT) Virginia Tech 20 | |
| Jan. 4 | Discover Orange Bowl | Sun Life Stadium Miami Gardens, FL 8:30 pm |
#15 Clemson Tigers (10–3) #23 West Virginia Mountaineers (9–3) |
ACC Big East |
Clemson 33 West Virginia 70 | |
| Jan. 9 | Allstate BCS National Championship Game | Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm |
#1 LSU Tigers (13–0) #2 Alabama Crimson Tide (11–1) |
SEC SEC |
LSU 0 Alabama 21 |
Post-BCS all-star games[]
| Date | Game | Site | Television | Participants | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 16 | Casino del Sol College All-Star Game | Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium Tucson, AZ 6:00 pm |
Fox Sports Arizona and Fox College Sports | Stars vs. Stripes | Stars 21 Stripes 24 |
| Jan. 21 | 2012 East–West Shrine Game | Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 4:00 pm |
NFL Network | East Team vs. West Team |
East 17 West 24 |
| AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl | The Home Depot Center Carson, CA 6:00 pm |
NBC Sports Network | American vs. National | American 14 National 20 | |
| The Battle of Florida | FAU Stadium Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL 8:00 PM |
Fox College Sports | North Florida vs. South Florida |
North Florida 51 South Florida 3 | |
| Jan. 28 | 2012 Senior Bowl | Ladd Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL 4:00 pm |
NFL Network | North Team vs. South Team |
North 23 South 13 |
Note: The NFLPA Game was cancelled after the 2011 edition and replaced by its Collegiate Bowl.
Notes[]
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