2011-12 Non-BCS Bowl Games
The 30 bowls that are not part of the BCS have contractual ties to specific conferences. For the 2011-12 bowl season, all 30 bowls have at least two tie-ins, meaning that there are no at-large spots open in these bowls, assuming that all conferences produce enough bowl eligible teams. Many bowls also have contingency contracts to offer spots to other specific conferences should their first choice not be eligible. If any slot cannot be filled by a contracted conference at all, then the spot becomes open, and the bowl can offer the slot to any eligible team.
To be eligible, a team must not have a losing record in the FBS. If a school plays 12 games, they must have at least six wins to qualify. If a school plays 13 games, they must then have at least seven wins to qualify. A rule change for 2010 allows bowls to tender a bid to any team with a 6-6 record before teams with more than six wins. Previously, a bowl with an at-large bid to fill was required to select the remaining team with the best record over a 6-6 team that would have been more financially attractive in terms of bringing more fans to the respective bowl. The contracts specify that the bowl receives a certain choice of teams, and this choice is typically not predicated on end-of-season rankings. For example, beginning this year, the Alamo Bowl has the third choice of Big 12 schools. That means they may choose any eligible Big 12 team after the first two bowls (in this case the BCS and the Cotton Bowl Classic) have chosen their teams from the conference. However, some conferences have special selection parameters written into their contracts with specific bowls — for example, the Capital One Bowl is contractually obligated to select the winningest Big Ten and SEC teams that do not make a BCS game, or a team within one win of the winningest in its conference, and the MAC's bowl contracts require that both division champions, if eligible, receive bids to one of its three contracted bowls.
| Bowl Game | First Game | Conference/Team | Conference/Team | Alternate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyundai Sun Bowl | 1935 | Pac-12 #4 | ACC #4 | |
| AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic | 1937 | Big 12 #2 | SEC #3/4 | |
| Gator Bowl | 1946 | SEC #6 | Big Ten #4/5 | |
| AutoZone Liberty Bowl | 1959 | C-USA #1 | SEC #7/8 | Big East #5 |
| Capital One Bowl | 1947 | Big Ten #2 | SEC #2 | |
| Chick-fil-A Bowl | 1968 | ACC #2 | SEC #5 | |
| Advocare V100 Independence Bowl | 1976 | ACC #7 | MWC #3 | |
| Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl | 1978 | Big 12 #5 | Pac-12 #3 | |
| Outback Bowl | 1986 | Big Ten #3 | SEC #3/4 | |
| Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl | 1989 | Big 12 #4 | Big Ten #4/5 | |
| Russell Athletic Bowl | 1990 | ACC #3 | Big East #2 or Notre Dame | |
| Maaco Bowl Las Vegas | 1992 | MWC #1 | Pac-12 #5 | |
| Valero Alamo Bowl | 1993 | Big 12 #3 | Pac-12 #2 | |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | 1997 | WAC #2 | MAC #3 | |
| Little Caesars Pizza Bowl | 1997 | Big Ten #8 | MAC #2 | Sun Belt |
| Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | 1998 | ACC #6 | SEC #7/8 | |
| GoDaddy.com Bowl | 1999 | Sun Belt #2 | MAC #1 | |
| Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas | 2000 | Big 12 #6 | Big Ten #6 | |
| New Mexico Bowl | 2001 | MWC #5 | Pac-12 #7 | |
| R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | 2001 | C-USA #4 | Sun Belt #1 | |
| Belk Bowl | 2002 | ACC #5 | Big East #3 | |
| Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl | 2002 | Pac-12 #6 | Army '11, Navy '12, BYU '13 | ACC #9 |
| Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl | 2002 | C-USA #2 | WAC #3 / Hawaiʻi | |
| Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl | 2003 | C-USA #3 | MWC #4 | BYU '11, Navy '13, Army |
| SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl | 2005 | MWC #2 | WAC #1 '11 | BYU '12, Army '13, Navy |
| BBVA Compass Bowl | 2006 | Big East #5 | SEC #9 | Sun Belt |
| Military Bowl | 2008 | ACC #8 | Navy '11, Army '12, C-USA #6 '13 | MAC #4, Big 12 |
| Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl | 2008 | Big East #6 | C-USA #5 | |
| New Era Pinstripe Bowl | 2010 | Big East #4 | Big 12 #7 | |
| Heart of Dallas Bowl | 2010 | Big Ten #7 | C-USA #2 '11 &'13, Big 12 #8 '12 | Big 12 |
Read more about this topic: Automatic Bids To College Bowl Games
Famous quotes containing the words bowl and/or games:
“One bowl is quiet; two bowls will clang together.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Criticism occupies the lowest place in the literary hierarchy: as regards form, almost always; and as regards moral value, incontestably. It comes after rhyming games and acrostics, which at least require a certain inventiveness.”
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)