112-751: The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas . Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the second choice team from the Big 12 Conference . For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the Pac-12 or Pac-12 "legacy schools" (former Pac-12 schools who are departing in 2024) will continue to fulfill their prior conference tie-in role. Traditionally,
224-480: A conference championship game to determine the winner of the conference. Between conference games, non-conference games, a conference championship game, and up to two bowl games if ranked among the top four college teams in the country by the College Football Playoff Committee . Only the four Playoff teams are eligible to participate in two bowl games in one postseason instead of a single one for
336-589: A 14–0 first-quarter lead and ended up winning 55–17. Iowa quarterback Chuck Long said, "That game didn't put us on the map, but it was the one that kept us on the map". The next year Iowa made it to the Rose Bowl , and Long finished second to Bo Jackson in the voting for the Heisman Trophy . For the Iowa Hawkeyes, the 2006 Alamo Bowl was the 22nd bowl game for the school (3rd most in the Big 10 ) and continued
448-472: A 34–24 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers . Iowa did not have a super-star receiver to catch Tate's passes. No player on the team had more than 46 receptions or 614 receiving yards. Iowa coach Ferentz said the month off should give his team an opportunity to get healthy. The time off allowed for the return of starting cornerback Adam Shada and defensive end Kenny Iwebema after both missed most of
560-472: A 6–6 record for the 2006 season, after going 5–1 in the first half of the season but only 1–5 in the second half. They were ranked as high as fifteenth before the slide. The Hawkeyes were led on the field by quarterback Drew Tate , who ranks second behind Chuck Long in most major school passing categories. In his senior season at Iowa (prior to the bowl), Tate had completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,349 yards and 16 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. This
672-450: A Kyle Schlicher field goal to make the score 26–24 with 6:20 left on the game clock. With 3:35 left to play, Iowa attempted a trick play – an attempted flanker pass that has posed problems for Texas all season. Safety Marcus Griffin stuffed the play for an 11-yard loss. Commenting on stopping the trick play, Griffin said, "I knew it was coming – we'd been beaten by that play in the last 10 games. We knew it had to come, I guess that
784-849: A Playoff semifinal game. The theoretical 16th game has only been possible since the beginning of the College Football Playoff era in the 2014 season . Furthermore, the College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams instead of 4 starting in the 2024 season, and, with its new bracket format, means that a team could potentially play in up to 18 games. For non-conference regular season games, FBS teams are free to schedule match-ups against any other FBS team, regardless of conference. A small number of FBS teams are independent , and have total control over their own schedule. Non-conference games are scheduled by mutual agreement and often involve "home and homes" (where teams alternate as hosts ) and long-established rivalries . A 2014 study found that teams from
896-777: A conference championship. The FBS currently has ten conferences, which are often divided into the " Power Four conferences " – which consist of the most prestigious schools and enjoy a certain amount of autonomy from NCAA rules – and the less prominent " Group of Five ". Although FCS programs can draw thousands of fans per game, many FCS schools attempt to join the FBS in hopes of increased revenue, corporate sponsorship, alumni donations, prestige, and national exposure. However, FBS programs also face increased expenses in regards to staff salaries, facility improvements, and scholarships. The athletic departments of many FBS schools lose money every year, and these athletic departments must rely on subsidies from
1008-729: A member of the Big 12 and Pac-12. Updated through the December 2023 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances). Source: The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception. It has produced eight of the top 20 most-watched bowl games in ESPN history. In 2006, the Alamo Bowl featured the Texas Longhorns and the Iowa Hawkeyes in a game that earned a 6.0 rating, making it the most-watched college football game in ESPN history as more than 8.83 million viewers saw
1120-691: A network that airs its home games. In the mid-2000s, college and conferences began to create their own television networks; such networks include the Big Ten Network , BYUtv , the Longhorn Network (which was folded into the SEC Network in 2024), and the Pac-12 Network . In 2012, college football games drew over 400 million viewers. The Big Ten (then popularly known as the Western Conference)
1232-455: A scheduling agreement with that conference that calls for the Fighting Irish football team to play five games each season against ACC schools, and to play each other ACC school at least once every three years. Finally, in 2015, Navy became a football-only member of The American, ending more than a century of football independence. Realignment continued at a lower level through the rest of
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#17328514079411344-411: A semifinal bowl game, and in the national championship game could theoretically play 16 games in a season instead of the 15 games you would have to play with the same scenario. No team has played a 16th game in one season, due to the unlikelihood and very low chances of a team playing Hawaii at some point, finishing the season ranked in the top four, opting in to a 13th regular season game, and then winning
1456-512: A streak of six bowl game appearances. It was the fourth time for Iowa to play in the Alamo Bowl, with their most recent appearance being a 19–16 victory over Texas Tech in 2001. The game was the second time in three years for Iowa to face the defending national champion in a bowl game; the Hawkeyes beat Louisiana State University 30–25 in the 2004 Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida . Iowa had
1568-472: A touchdown to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game at 20–14. This touchdown pass was McCoy's 29th touchdown pass of the season, tying the national record for touchdown passes by a freshman. Iowa answered with another touchdown pass from Drew to Brodell that made the score 21–20 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, McCoy scrambled on fourth down with 11 minutes to go in
1680-654: A transition are Delaware and Missouri State , which began their transitions in 2024 and will join CUSA in 2025. The next school scheduled to complete an FBS transition is Kennesaw State University , which started its transition in 2023 ahead of its 2024 move to Conference USA. The following table shows revenue for each conference reported by the Knight Commission for the 2021–22 academic year. Note: Values from some universities are not reported here. The only conferences made up entirely of state-supported universities are
1792-581: A varsity sport. In order to retain FBS membership, schools must meet several requirements. Before 2023, FBS schools had to average at least 15,000 home attendance (over a rolling two-year period). An FBS school must sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity intercollegiate teams (including football), with at least six men's or coeducational teams and at least eight all-female teams. Across all sports, each FBS school must offer at least 200 athletic scholarships (or spend at least $ 4 million on athletic scholarships) per year, and FBS football teams must provide at least 90% of
1904-466: Is in place until 2025. The game originally gave an automatic invite to a team from the now-defunct Southwest Conference (SWC). However, in 1993, only two of the eight SWC teams finished with the necessary 6 wins against Division I-A teams to become bowl-eligible, and those two teams were already committed to other bowls, so the Iowa Hawkeyes were invited instead. The SWC was able to provide teams for
2016-695: Is one of the most popular spectator sports throughout much of the United States. The top schools generate tens of millions of dollars in yearly revenue. Top FBS teams draw tens of thousands of fans to games, and the fifteen largest American stadiums by capacity all host FBS teams or games. Since July 1, 2021, college athletes have been able to receive payments for the use of their name, image, and likeness . Prior to this date colleges were only allowed to provide players with non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. Unlike other NCAA divisions and subdivisions,
2128-884: The AP National Championship Trophy , while the American Football Coaches Association awards the AFCA National Championship Trophy . The AFCA trophy was previously awarded to the winner of the BCS National Championship Game (a predecessor of the College Football Playoff National Championship game), which operated from 1999 to 2014. The Football Writers Association of America awarded the Grantland Rice Trophy until after
2240-598: The Big East to the ACC. The Big East responded by adding schools from Conference USA. College football underwent another major conference realignment in the first half of the 2010s. Members of the Big East left the conference to join the Big 12 and ACC. The Big 12 lost members to the SEC, the Pac-12, and the Big Ten, while the Big Ten also gained one former ACC member. The remaining members of
2352-749: The Bowl Coalition in order to determine the FBS champion. In 1998, the two remaining major conferences joined with the other five conferences to form the Bowl Championship Series . The BCS used a rankings system to match up the top two teams in the BCS National Championship Game . However, even the BCS era saw split national championships , as in 2003 the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll selected different national champions. The College Football Playoff replaced
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#17328514079412464-684: The Great Midwest Conference , two conferences which had not sponsored football. The Big West stopped sponsoring football after the 2000 season, and was essentially replaced by the Sun Belt Conference , which added former Big West members and began sponsoring football in 2001. In the mid-2000s, the Big East added former basketball-only member Connecticut, while Temple left the conference (before eventually returning in 2013). During another phase of realignment in 2005 , three schools jumped from
2576-588: The Holiday Bowl against the third choice from the Big 12. The Big 12's third choice also moved to the Alamo Bowl, and the Holiday Bowl now gets third choice of team from the Pac-12 and the fourth choice from the Big Ten. In the 2011 Alamo Bowl , the Baylor Bears and Washington Huskies combined to score 123 points, breaking the record for the most points scored in a bowl game in college football history. Baylor won
2688-469: The Iowa Hawkeyes and was televised on ESPN and ESPN-HD. It was the most watched bowl game in ESPN history. Alamo Bowl officials announced that both schools sold their entire allotment of tickets, resulting in the fastest sellout in Alamo Bowl history. The attendance for the game was 65,875, which established a new record for the most people to gather in San Antonio to view a sporting event. Texas won
2800-559: The Mid-American Conference . Most recently, UConn went independent in 2020 when the school left The American to rejoin many of its historic basketball rivals in the current Big East Conference. Notre Dame competed under a full ACC schedule only also in 2020 in response to logistical concerns that arose from the effects of COVID-19 . The most recent realignment is currently ongoing , with the majority of conference changes in this cycle taking place in 2023 and 2024. It started with
2912-754: The National Football Foundation established the College Football Hall of Fame . Notable individual awards include: The NCAA does not officially name a national champion, but several other organizations name national champions and all conferences participate in the College Football Playoff in order to determine a champion. The winner of the College Football Playoff receives the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy . The AP awards
3024-525: The Pop-Tarts Bowl provides a match-up between teams from ACC and the Big 12 . A small number of long-established bowls played a major role in the Bowl Championship Series , which was used to select the national champion until the 2013 season, and these bowls continue to play a major role in the College Football Playoff . Under the playoff, there are six major bowls, known as the New Year's Six, which host
3136-538: The Western Athletic Conference discontinued football sponsorship prior to the 2013 season , there have been ten conferences in the FBS. Through the 2023 season, all of the FBS conferences have between ten and fourteen members, although independent Notre Dame has a scheduling agreement with the fourteen-member ACC. The ten conferences are split into two groups for the purposes of the College Football Playoff . The " Power Four conferences " consist of most of
3248-492: The Western Athletic Conference . The Mountain West lost schools to the Big 12, Pac-12, and the FBS independent ranks, and added several schools from the WAC. After several defections, leaving the conference with only two football-sponsoring schools remaining, the WAC dropped its sponsorship of football. The early-2010s realignment cycle also affected the FBS independent ranks. BYU left
3360-466: The forward pass was legal. The IAAUS had formed after President Theodore Roosevelt , responding to several deaths that had occurred during football games, requested that colleges find ways to make football a safer sport. In 1935, the Heisman Trophy was presented for the first time; the award is generally considered to be college football's most prestigious individual award. In 1965, the NCAA voted to allow
3472-419: The platoon system , in which different players played on offense and defense; teams had previously experimented with the concept in the 1940s. In 1968, the NCAA began allowing freshmen to compete in games; freshmen had previously been required to take a redshirt year. In 1975, after a growth of "grants-in-aid" (scholarships given for athletic rather than academic or need-based reasons), the NCAA voted to limit
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3584-449: The stronger conferences frequently play non-conference games against teams from the weaker conferences or, occasionally, against FCS teams . FBS teams are free to schedule up to forty percent of their games against FCS teams, but FBS teams can only use one win per season against an FCS team for the purposes of bowl eligibility . Additionally, the FCS opponent must have averaged at least 80% of
3696-479: The "home game" requirement. FBS–FCS games, known as "money games", are often home games for the FBS team, and victories by FCS teams are considered to be upsets . FCS teams receive hundreds of thousands of dollars for their participation in these FBS–FCS games. The Football Bowl Subdivision gets its name from the bowl games that many FBS teams play at the end of the year, although other college divisions also have their own bowl games . FBS bowl games are played at
3808-473: The 1982 season, while the Missouri Valley Conference stopped sponsoring football prior to the 1985 season. In 1991, the Big East recruited several independents and began sponsoring football, becoming a major conference. In 1996, Conference USA (CUSA), formed the previous year by the merger of the non-football Metro and Great Midwest Conferences, also began sponsoring football. That same year,
3920-543: The 2010s and into the early 2020s. Georgia Southern joined the Sun Belt Conference upon transitioning to the FBS level in 2014. The Eagles won the Sun Belt Conference championship outright in their first year as an FBS member. The 2016 season saw FCS Coastal Carolina join the Sun Belt Conference for non-football sports while beginning a transition to FBS football; the football team joined the Sun Belt in 2017. That season
4032-489: The 2013 season, and the National Football Foundation awards the MacArthur Bowl . Since the disputed end of the 2003 season , the various organizations have been able to agree on a single national champion. Many of the school names on the maps below are abbreviated in order to save space. The following is a list of such abbreviations along with each school's full name: In addition to the list of FBS football programs in
4144-506: The 2024 season, the only FBS conference that uses divisions is the SBC. The American, the Big 12, and CUSA all previously utilized division systems before abandoning them after losing some of their member schools to realignment: UConn left The American in July 2020, and Marshall , Old Dominion , and Southern Miss left CUSA in July 2022, leaving both those conferences with an odd number of members, while
4256-480: The 2nd year of two-year transition process. Due to that, JMU tried to become bowl eligible in 2023, but the NCAA refused it. However, when only 79 non-transitional FBS teams were available to fill the 82 FBS bowl slots for that season, JMU, which had finished its regular season with an 11–1 record, was allowed to fill one of the vacant slots. On July 1, 2023, two outgoing FCS teams Jacksonville State and Sam Houston joined CUSA. The most recent schools to start such
4368-846: The ACC and MW announcing similar intentions for 2023, and the Big Ten, MAC, and SEC doing the same for 2024. Since the 2018 season , all conferences have held a championship game that determines the conference champion. The Sun Belt was the last conference to launch a championship game, as well as the most recent to split into divisions for football, with both the title game and the divisional alignment debuting in 2018. That conference chose to form football divisions despite having only 10 football members; it has since expanded to 14 members while maintaining its divisional alignment. AAC (unofficial) Sun Belt (unofficial) † "Big Four" or " Power Four " conferences that enjoy "autonomy status" under NCAA rules Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia joined
4480-530: The ACC, and Army left the independent ranks to become a football-only member of The American. 2025 will also see two new teams transition from FCS to FBS as Delaware and Missouri State will join CUSA, respectively from CAA Football and the Missouri Valley Football Conference , and also the departure of UMass from the independent ranks to become a full member of the MAC. In September 2024,
4592-528: The Alamo Bowl has been played in December, although it was played in January following the 2009, 2014, and 2015 seasons. This year's game is scheduled for December 28, 2024. Since 2007, the game has been sponsored by Valero Energy Corporation and officially known as the Valero Alamo Bowl . Previous sponsors include MasterCard (2002–2005), Sylvania (1999–2001), and Builders Square (1993–1998). The game
Alamo Bowl - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-481: The Alamo Bowl organizers announced they had reached an agreement with the then Pac-10 Conference to replace the Big Ten Conference in the Alamo Bowl. Under the terms of the agreement, the now Pac-12 Conference 's (Pac-12) second-choice team earns a bid to the Alamo Bowl. The agreement took effect beginning with the 2010 college football season. The Pac-12's second-choice team was previously contracted to play in
4816-588: The BCS starting with the 2014 season; it featured four teams through the 2023 season, after which it expanded to 12 teams. Since 2021, when the Supreme Court unanimously held in NCAA v. Alston that restrictions on name, image, and likeness compensation violated antitrust law , FBS football players have been able to make money from sources other than college scholarships. However, there remains no unified system to provide players with such compensation. College football
4928-456: The Big 12 has not used divisions since the early-2010s conference realignment left it with 10 members. The Pac-12, however, chose to abandon divisions entirely as a result of the NCAA Division I Council ruling that conferences would no longer be required to maintain divisions in order to hold a conference championship. It was the first conference to entirely abandon divisions due to this, with
5040-427: The Big 12, which also added former football independent BYU. In 2024, Oklahoma and Texas joined the SEC, while 10 of the 12 members of the Pac-12 left for other power conferences— UCLA , USC , Oregon, and Washington for the Big Ten; Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah for the Big 12; and California and Stanford for the ACC. In addition, Kennesaw State upgraded to FBS and joined CUSA, SMU left The American for
5152-535: The Big East split into two conferences: the American Athletic Conference ("The American") and a new conference that assumed the Big East name but does not sponsor football. The American added several schools from CUSA, but lost one school each to the ACC and Big Ten after its first season. In turn, CUSA added FCS schools and schools from the Sun Belt Conference . The Sun Belt Conference replenished its membership by adding FCS schools and schools from
5264-474: The December 2023 edition (31 games, 62 total appearances). Won (5): California , Missouri , Ohio State , UCLA , Wisconsin Lost (4): Iowa State , Oregon State , Stanford , Utah As of 2023, Kansas and West Virginia are the only current or former Big 12 members that have not appeared in the bowl, while Arizona State and USC are the only Pac-12 members that have not appeared. Colorado has appeared as both
5376-505: The FBS. Although all college football players are eligible for many of these awards (such as the Heisman Trophy ), FBS players usually win these awards, and other awards (such as the Walter Payton Award ) exist to honor players in other divisions and the FCS. In addition to the national awards listed below, FBS conferences also have their own awards, and several organizations release a yearly College Football All-America Team . In 1951,
5488-399: The FCS limit of 63 scholarship equivalents over a rolling two-year period. (Before the 2022 season, this limit had been 90%. ) An FBS team must schedule a total of five home games per year; for the purposes of scheduling, a "home game" must take place at a venue in which the team plays 50% of its "home games", although a team is allowed to count one neutral-site game against an FBS team toward
5600-595: The FCS. In the 1996 NCAA conference realignment , the Southwest Conference dissolved, and four Texas teams from that conference joined with the Big 8 schools to form the Big 12 Conference . The Western Athletic Conference expanded to sixteen members, but half of the schools left in 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference . Conference USA (CUSA) formed from a merger of the Metro Conference and
5712-667: The MAC and SBC. The FBS has experienced several realignments since its formation in 1978, with many teams changing conferences, dropping out of the FBS, or moving up from the FCS. In 1982, the size of the division was cut considerably, and the Southern Conference and the Ivy League were demoted to the FCS. In 1985, the Missouri Valley Conference stopped sponsoring football. In the 1980s and 1990s, several independents joined conferences, dropped football, or joined
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#17328514079415824-460: The MW in 2011 for football independence and the non-football West Coast Conference . In 2013, Idaho and New Mexico State , the last two football-sponsoring schools in the WAC, became FBS independents, but would return to their former football home of the Sun Belt Conference as football-only members the following year. Also in 2013, Notre Dame became a full but non-football member of the ACC, entering into
5936-520: The Main article, there is also a List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums . 2006 Alamo Bowl The 2006 Alamo Bowl was a college football bowl game , one of the 2006–07 NCAA football bowl games that concluded the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The game was played in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio , Texas on December 30. The game matched the Texas Longhorns versus
6048-988: The Mountain States Conference and the Border Conference formed the Western Athletic Conference. In 1969, the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), later known as the Big West Conference , was formed by several Division II California schools that sought to join Division I. Division I separated into Division I-A (the predecessor to the FBS) and I-AA (predecessor of the FCS ) prior to the 1978 season . At that time, there were several independent I-A schools and twelve Division I-A conferences:
6160-481: The NCAA and allowed teams to televise all of their games. After a period during which FBS schools negotiated collectively under the College Football Association , Notre Dame's 1991 television contract ushered in an era in which schools and conferences negotiate their own television contracts. This new era of television led to several waves of conference realignment, most notably in 1996 , 2005 , and
6272-434: The NCAA does not officially award an FBS football national championship , nor does it sanction a playoff tournament to determine such a champion on the field. As the College Football Playoff did not exist until 2014, organizations such as the Associated Press and AFCA have historically sought to rank the teams and crown a national champion, by taking a vote of sports writers and coaches, respectively. Various cities across
6384-414: The Oklahoma State Cowboys had defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, then Texas would still have played in the Big 12 Championship Game with a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl . That is because both the Longhorns and the Sooners would have had a 6–2 conference record, but the Longhorns would have won the tie-breaker by virtue of winning the head-to-head game against Oklahoma. Oklahoma won the game, however, so
6496-463: The Pac-12 started a rebuilding process by raiding the Mountain West Conference, with five MW members ( Boise State , Colorado State , Fresno State , San Diego State , and Utah State ) set to join the Pac-12 in 2026. The MW first responded by announcing that UTEP would join from CUSA in 2026, soon followed by Hawaiʻi upgrading its MW membership from football-only to all-sports in 2026. Several awards are given each year to players and coaches in
6608-420: The Playoff. The decades preceding the advent of the Playoff also included attempts by the premier FBS conferences and bowl games to attempt to organize matchups so that the FBS national championship was decided on the field, such as the Bowl Coalition from 1992 to 1994, the Bowl Alliance from 1995 to 1997, and the Bowl Championship Series from 1998 to 2013. The FBS is the highest level of college football in
6720-409: The Southeastern Conference (SEC), Big Ten, Pacific-10 (Pac-10), Big 8 , Southwest Conference (SWC), Western Athletic Conference (WAC), PCAA (which later changed its name to the Big West), Missouri Valley Conference , Southern Conference , Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Mid-American Conference (MAC), and the Ivy League . The Ivy League and the Southern Conference left for Division I-AA prior to
6832-400: The Southwest Conference dissolved, and four of its former members joined with the Big 8 to form the Big 12 Conference. In 1999, eight schools broke away from the WAC to form the Mountain West Conference (MW). Prior to the 2000 season, the Big West stopped sponsoring football. The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) began sponsoring football in 2001. After periods of conference realignment in 2005 and
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#17328514079416944-424: The Sun Belt Conference upon transitioning to the FBS level in 2014. Prior to joining the Sun Belt, GASOU won six FCS (I-AA) national championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award winners. The Eagles first continuously fielded a football team in 1924; however, play was suspended for World War II and revived in 1981. The Eagles competed as an FCS independent from 1984 until 1992 as the Eagles' main conference at
7056-433: The United States have created their own postseason contests, called bowl games , in which they traditionally invite teams to participate. Historically, these bowl games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating teams. However, in the modern era, some of the bowls serve as semifinal games of the Playoff and the remainder constitute the de facto postseason for teams that fail to qualify for
7168-541: The United States, and FBS players make up the vast majority of the players picked in the NFL Draft . For every sport but football, the NCAA divides schools into three major divisions: Divisions I , II , and III . However, in football , Division I is further divided into two sub-divisions: the Bowl Subdivision, abbreviated as the FBS, and the Championship Subdivision , abbreviated as the FCS. Divisions are themselves further divided up into conferences , which are groupings of schools that play each other in contention for
7280-569: The all-sports Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), barred the Dukes from competing in or hosting team championships in any sport for that conference during the 2021–22 season according to then-current CAA bylaws. (The CAA football league, branded as CAA Football , is technically a separate entity from the all-sports CAA.) However, the Dukes were eligible for at-large bids to all NCAA team championships in 2021–22. By meeting FBS scheduling requirements in 2022, JMU played an FBS schedule in year one of their transition process, which normally only occurs in
7392-669: The announcements by Oklahoma and Texas that they would leave the Big 12 for the SEC no later than 2025. The Big 12 and its departing members later announced a 2024 departure date. The first actual conference changes came in 2022, with the Sun Belt gaining Marshall , returning Old Dominion , and Southern Miss from CUSA, and FCS upgrader James Madison . The following year saw CUSA add Jacksonville State , Sam Houston (both from FCS), New Mexico State and Liberty (FBS independents) but lose Charlotte , Florida Atlantic , North Texas , Rice , UAB , and UTSA to The American. In turn, The American lost Cincinnati , Houston , and UCF to
7504-590: The annual spending requirement rises to $ 6 million. Also starting in 2027–28, FBS programs must not only provide at least 90% of the required number of football scholarships, but must provide at least 90% of the maximum number of scholarships across a total of 16 sports, including football. The FBS season begins in late August or early September and ends in January with the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Most FBS teams play 12 regular season games per year, with eight or nine of those games coming against conference opponents. All ten FBS conferences hold
7616-468: The ball at their own 20. Colt McCoy capped an 80-yard scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed . This made the score 14–10 in favor of Iowa as the teams went into half-time . The Longhorns began the second half by scoring on another Ryan Bailey field goal, this one for 43 yards to bring the score to 14–13. Later in the third quarter, McCoy threw a rarely used wheel route to running back Jamaal Charles , who ran 72 yards for
7728-415: The ball. There was already a man outside of him. The official term for the call on the field is 'covered up on the line.'" The Texas Longhorns were ranked 19th in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings, which were issued before the bowl season . They received a final-ranking of 13th in the nation by both the Associated Press AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll . The Iowa Hawkeyes finished
7840-436: The best team in the country, and the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll began rankings teams in the middle of the 20th century. In many seasons, selectors such as the AP and the Coaches Poll designated different teams as national champions. Often, more than one team would finish undefeated , as the top teams were not guaranteed to play each other during the regular season or in bowl games. In 1992, five major conferences established
7952-432: The early 2010s that saw the expansion of the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and Pac-10 (which changed its name to the Pac-12), the WAC reorganized as a non-football conference and the Big East split into the American Athletic Conference and a new non-football conference that retained the Big East name. Most of the 134 FBS schools are members of an FBS conference, but there are also a small number of independent schools . Since
8064-405: The early 2010s . FBS games continue to be a major draw on television, as over 26 million people watched the 2014 BCS National Championship Game . National networks such as CBS, ABC, NBC, several ESPN networks, and several Fox networks have all covered the FBS, as have several regional and local networks. As conferences negotiate their own television deals, each conference is affiliated with
8176-437: The end of the season in December or January, and collectively generate over $ 400 million per year as of 2012. For the 2017–18 bowl season , there were 40 bowl games . In order to be bowl eligible , an FBS team must have a winning record. In certain cases – usually if not enough teams have winning records – 5–7 and 6–7 teams can also be selected to bowls. Many bowls have an established conference tie-in; for example,
8288-515: The first team ever to go unbeaten in conference play in their first FBS season. Since the Eagles were under transitional status, the university filed for a postseason waiver to allow the Eagles to play in a bowl game; however, the NCAA denied Georgia Southern's waiver request and a subsequent appeal since enough full member FBS teams became bowl-eligible during the season. Liberty University began its FBS transition process on July 1, 2017. The NCAA granted
8400-486: The game 26–24. Texas began the 2006 season as the defending national champions but lost early in the season to No. 1 ranked Ohio State University and finished the year with back-to-back losses to Kansas State University and Texas A&M University to end all hopes of repeating as national champions. With their loss to Texas A&M, Texas looked north to the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State Bedlam Series rivalry. If
8512-622: The game 32−28 after Michigan was not able to reach the endzone. The 2007 Alamo Bowl between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Texas A&;M Aggies was attended by 66,166, an Alamodome facility-record crowd for a sporting event, breaking the previous record set by the Iowa Hawkeyes and Texas Longhorns in the 2006 Alamo Bowl . The Nittany Lions won the game 24–17. The Alamo Bowl has sold out seven of its 16 games (1995, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011). On August 28, 2009,
8624-485: The game and the organizational structure of college football have evolved significantly during that time. The first college football game was played in 1869, but the game continued to develop during the late 19th and early 20th century. During this period, Walter Camp pioneered the concept of a line of scrimmage , the system of downs , and the College Football All-America Team . The 1902 Rose Bowl
8736-511: The game to set up what would prove to be the winning touchdown. McCoy bootlegged to the right with fullback Chris Ogbonnaya as a blocker, running 8 yards to the Iowa 2-yard line. Running back Selvin Young then regained the lead for Texas with a two-yard touchdown run . Texas failed at an attempted two-point conversion , leaving the score at 26–21. Iowa drove into Texas territory but settled for
8848-426: The game was over. The final score was Texas 26, Iowa 24. References: ESPN announced that the 2006 Alamo Bowl was the most watched bowl game in the history of that television network. Official Jeff Robinson released a statement to clarify the call which nullified the pass to Chandler: "The man who caught the ball (#87) came in motion and came across the line, which made him ineligible to go down field to catch
8960-556: The game, 67–56. The 2011 game was also the first Alamo Bowl to feature a season's Heisman Trophy winner, Baylor's Robert Griffin III . All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played. Source: Two MVPs are selected for each game; one offensive player and one defensive player. Source: The bowl's sportsmanship award is named after Fred Jacoby, who served as SWC commissioner from 1982 to 1993. Source: Updated through
9072-570: The head coaching job at Iowa State University and therefore could not be with the Longhorns for their bowl game. Also, on November 29 the Austin American-Statesman cited unnamed sources saying back-up quarterback Jevan Snead would transfer from Texas and that his availability for the upcoming bowl game was also uncertain. On December 1, the Longhorns issued a statement confirming that Snead, along with sophomore defensive end Chris Brown and sophomore offensive tackle Greg Dolan, had left
9184-464: The largest and best-known college athletic programs in the country. A school from one of the power conferences (including the Pac-12, which was a power conference prior to 2024) won every BCS National Championship Game (which operated from 1999 to 2014), and has won every College Football Playoff National Championship . The remaining five conferences are known as the " Group of Five ". Any conference may split its teams into two divisions; however, as of
9296-560: The maximum number of football scholarships (which is currently 85). In October 2023, the NCAA announced major changes to FBS membership requirements. The average home attendance requirement, which had largely gone unenforced in the 21st century and was suspended in 2020 due to COVID-19 impacts, was permanently eliminated, effective immediately. Effective in 2027–28, minimums on both the total number of, and spending on, athletic scholarships in all FBS programs will be enforced. The number of required athletic scholarships will increase to 210, and
9408-551: The most controversial plays in bowl game history. During the multi-lateral play, almost the entire Nebraska Cornhuskers team and coaching staff as well as half of the Michigan Wolverines sideline came onto the field, and the Cornhuskers gave their coach a Gatorade shower before the play was blown dead. It drew parallels to 1982's " The Play ", 2000's " Music City Miracle ", and 2002's " Bluegrass Miracle ". Nebraska would win
9520-525: The next game for Texas would be their bowl bid, with speculation originally centering on the Cotton Bowl Classic or Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. The Holiday Bowl and the Alamo Bowl were also mentioned as possibilities. The Longhorns' starting quarterback, Colt McCoy , was injured on the first drive of the Kansas State game. He played against Texas A&M the following game, and final week of
9632-554: The next two seasons ( Baylor Bears in 1994 and Texas A&M Aggies in 1995) before the conference disbanded. During the 1996 Alamo Bowl , the Iowa Hawkeyes wore plain black helmets (removing their tigerhawk logo and gold stripe) in honor of linebacker Mark Mitchell's mother, who died in a car accident while traveling to San Antonio for the game. The 2002 Alamo Bowl played between the Colorado Buffaloes and Wisconsin Badgers
9744-525: The non-football ASUN Conference in 2018. Conference USA (CUSA) eventually announced in November 2021 Liberty's future addition to that conference, with Flames football moving to CUSA starting in the 2023 season. Three schools began FBS transitions on July 1, 2022. James Madison University joined the Sun Belt after meeting the NCAA minimum of five FBS opponents at its home stadium, as required and scheduled. This happened after James Madison's FCS conference,
9856-533: The number of athletic scholarships each school could offer. In 1968, the NCAA required all teams to identify as members of either the University Division (for larger schools) or the College Division (for smaller schools), and in 1973, the NCAA divided into three divisions. At the urging of several larger schools seeking increased autonomy and commonality, Division I-A was formed prior to the 1978 season ;
9968-614: The quarterfinal and semifinal games prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Conferences receive millions of dollars for each school that appears in the playoff, and appearances in other bowls are also quite lucrative. In addition to the regular bowls, some postseason bowls, such as the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl , match up teams of all-stars and NFL Draft entrants. College football has been played for over one hundred years, but
10080-513: The regular season, and was injured after a controversial hit by Aggie defensive tackle Kellen Heard. Longhorns trainer Kenny Boyd said the injury was a severe pinched nerve in McCoy's neck. Boyd said that McCoy was expected to make a full recovery, but no timetable was initially set for McCoy to return to play and no announcement was initially made about his status for the bowl game. Meanwhile, Longhorn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik accepted
10192-610: The remaining schools formed the Missouri Valley Conference. In 1932, several Southern schools formed the SEC after breaking away from the Southern Conference, and in 1953 several more schools seceded from the Southern Conference to form the ACC. In 1946, several Midwestern schools formed the MAC. Several elite Northeastern schools had formed the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League in 1901, and its members (plus Brown University , not an EIBL member at
10304-571: The remaining teams in Division I formed the Football Championship Subdivision or FCS (then known as Division I-AA). In 1981, members of the College Football Association attempted to create a fourth division consisting solely of the most competitive schools, but this effort was defeated. In the 1992 season , the SEC split into divisions and played the first FBS conference championship game . The Big 12 and Western Athletic Conference did
10416-527: The rest of the university. In many states, the highest-paid public employee is the head coach of an FBS team. FBS schools are limited to a total of 85 football players receiving financial assistance. Nearly all FBS schools that are not on NCAA probation give 85 full scholarships. The three United States service academies that are FBS members are technically subject to the 85-scholarship limit, but are effectively exempt because all of their students receive federally-funded full scholarships whether or not they play
10528-420: The rest, and only the winners of the two playoff semifinal bowl games will play a 15th game when they meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship . The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and teams that play at Hawaii get a special exemption and are allowed to play an extra regular season game in order to defray travel costs, so an FBS team that plays 13 regular season games, a conference championship game,
10640-405: The same for the 1996 season , and most conferences eventually adopted divisions and championship games. The NCAA does not officially award an FBS football championship, but several teams have claimed national championships. Other organizations have also sought to rank the teams and crown a national champion. The Dickinson System and other methods were formed in the early 20th century to select
10752-553: The school a waiver from its normal transition rules that require an invitation from an FBS conference before beginning the transition. The Flames played in the Big South Conference in 2017 but were not eligible for the FCS playoffs. For 2018 to 2022, the Flames became an FBS independent. The school initially intended to remain a Big South member in other sports until it received an invitation to an FBS conference, but instead joined
10864-447: The score 14–3 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Tate threw an apparent touchdown pass to tight end Scott Chandler . Tate was seen celebrating by making an upside-down Hook 'em Horns hand signal. However, the officials ruled that Chandler was an ineligible receiver . On the next play, Tate again tried to find Chandler in the end zone but instead threw an interception to UT defensive back Aaron Ross . Texas got
10976-457: The second half of the season. The Alamo Bowl announced that both schools sold their entire allotment of tickets, resulting in the fastest sellout in Alamo Bowl history. The actual attendance for the game was 65,875, which established a new record for the most people to gather in San Antonio to view a sporting event. As of December 11, the betting line was Texas by 11 points. Texas won the coin toss and elected to defer their possession to
11088-402: The second half. UT therefore kicked off to Iowa, who went on offense . The Hawkeyes drove 77 yards for a touchdown . Texas was unable to score, and returned the ball to Iowa. Iowa's Drew Tate threw a pass to Andy Brodell, and he ran 63 yards for a touchdown. Texas was able to get some points on the board when walk-on placekicker Ryan Bailey made a 27-yard field goal to make
11200-478: The team and would transfer to unspecified schools. On December 3, Texas officially accepted a bid to play in the Alamo Bowl against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who finished the regular season at 6–6 overall and in eighth place in the Big 10. This was the first appearance for Texas in the Alamo Bowl, which is played only 75 miles from the University of Texas campus . On December 21, UT announced that McCoy
11312-494: The telecast. NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ), formerly known as Division I-A , is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 conferences and 134 schools in FBS. College football
11424-670: The time) signed the Ivy Group Agreement, which governed football competition between the signatories, in 1945; the Ivy League was formally founded in 1954, when the agreement was extended to cover all sports. In 1959, the Pacific Coast Conference dissolved, and most of its former members formed the new Athletic Association of Western Universities, which became the Pac-8 when more former PCC members joined. In 1962, several schools from
11536-599: The time, the Trans America Athletic Conference (now known as the Atlantic Sun Conference, or ASUN), did not sponsor football, and as a member of the Southern Conference from 1993 until 2013, winning 10 SoCon championships. The Georgia Southern Eagles finished their first FBS season 9–3 overall and was undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play at 8–0; winning the Sun Belt Conference championship outright in its first year as an FBS member. They were also
11648-457: Was a slightly disappointing performance since he had completed more than 60 percent of his passes his previous two years, throwing for more than 20 touchdowns each year. Tate attended high school in Texas. In the Hawkeyes' final regular-season game November 18, 2006, Drew Tate completed 26 of 36 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns, but he also lost a fumble and threw three interceptions in
11760-496: Was also the last for Idaho and New Mexico State as Sun Belt football members. After 2017, New Mexico State returned to independent status, while Idaho downgraded to FCS football—becoming the first program ever to voluntarily do so without extenuating circumstances —and added football to its all-sports membership in the Big Sky Conference . Also in 2016, UMass went independent after turning down an offer of full membership in
11872-540: Was cleared to play in the bowl game. He did start at quarterback and played the entire game for Texas. Texas and Iowa had only faced one another once before, in the inaugural playing of the Freedom Bowl in 1984 . In the 1984 season, Texas had climbed as high as No. 1 in the rankings before losing the last two games of the season and falling to No. 19. In the Freedom Bowl, an unranked Iowa squad jumped out to
11984-493: Was first broadcast on radio in 1921, and first broadcast on television in 1939. Television became profitable for both schools and the NCAA, which tightly controlled the airing of games in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The NCAA limited each football team to six television appearances over a two-year period. The 1981 Supreme Court case NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma & University of Georgia granted television rights to individual schools as opposed to
12096-891: Was founded in 1896, after which several other schools joined to form conferences, including the Pacific Coast Conference , the MVIAA, the Southwest Conference, the Southern Conference , the Mountain States Conference (also known as the Skyline Conference), and the Border Conference . In 1928, six schools seceded from the MVIAA to form the Big Six Conference, which later expanded to the Big Eight in 1957;
12208-601: Was previously known as the Builders Square Alamo Bowl (1993–1998), the Sylvania Alamo Bowl (1999–2001), and the MasterCard Alamo Bowl (2002–2005). The logo of the event has evolved to reflect the changes in sponsorship. On May 24, 2007, the Alamo Bowl announced a partnership with San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corporation , and thus the bowl's full name was changed. The partnership with Valero
12320-422: Was the best time for it." Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz described the call as "totally my fault. I was being greedy, I thought we had a secure play." Tate then threw two incomplete passes and the Hawkeyes punted with a little more than two minutes to play. Texas, assisted by an 11-yard end-around run by flanker Billy Pitman, used all but 10 seconds of the game clock before punting to Iowa. One play later,
12432-618: Was the first bowl game in college football history, and the event began to be held annually starting with the 1916 Rose Bowl . In the 1930s, other bowl games came into existence, including the Sugar Bowl , the Cotton Bowl Classic , and the Orange Bowl . The 1906 college football season was the first season played under the IAAUS (which would later change its name to the NCAA ) and the first season in which
12544-702: Was the first Alamo Bowl to go into overtime, with the unranked Badgers defeating the No. 14 ranked Buffaloes after kicking a field goal to win 31–28, completing a perfect non-conference schedule at 6-0 (the Badgers finished with a 2-6 record in the Big Ten). The 2008 Alamo Bowl between the Missouri Tigers and Northwestern Wildcats also went into overtime, with the Tigers defeating the Wildcats 30–23. The 2005 Alamo Bowl ended with one of
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