2010 BCS National Championship Game
The 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game will be the finale of the Bowl Championship Series, which will be hosted by the Tournament of Roses Association at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, January 7, 2010, pitting the Texas Longhorns, likely the number two team in the BCS Standings against the likely number one team, the Alabama Crimson Tide. This will be the last BCS game to air on terrestrial television for at least four years, with kickoff scheduled for 8:39 PM US EST. ABC will televise this game, as well as the Rose Bowl, while FOX will televise the remainder of the BCS. The 2010 games mark the final year of the current contracts with FOX and ABC; ESPN will take over the BCS starting in 2011, including the Rose Bowl Game and the National Championship.[2]
This will mark the third time that the Tournament of Roses has hosted the BCS National Championship game in Pasadena, and the first under the "plus one national championship game" system. In the 2002 Rose Bowl, Miami (Florida) beat Nebraska 37-14, while in 2006, Texas beat highly favored and defending national champion Southern California, 41-38.
BCS season timeline
- Spring practice and games were started as early as Friday, February 20, 2009 and must end no later than Tuesday, April 28, 2009
- First games of the season were played on Thursday, September 3, 2009
- First Harris Poll was released on Sunday, September 27, 2009
- First BCS standings were posted on Sunday, October 18, 2009
- BCS Selection Sunday is scheduled for Sunday, December 6, 2009
BCS Standings
The initial BCS Bowl Championship Series Standings were released on Sunday, October 18, 2009. It shows Florida (6-0) on top of the list. It was followed by Alabama (7-0), Texas (6-0), Boise State (6-0) and Cincinnati (6-0).[3]
The Nos. 1-2 teams in the initial BCS standings have played just once in the BCS National Championship – USC and Texas (2005). Five times in the first 10 years of the system, the No. 1 team from the initial selection week has advanced to the title contest, and Florida State (1999) and USC (2004) are the only two first-week No. 1 schools to capture the eventual crown. Every year (excluding 1998 when UCLA and Ohio State opened at 1-2) at least one of the top two first standings’ squads has advanced to the BCS National Championship. The Florida Gators, last year's national champion, made their debut in the first BCS standings at No. 10, and fought all the way into the title game.
- October 25, 2009: Florida (7-0); Alabama (8-0); Texas (7-0); Iowa (8-0); USC (6-1) — With this standings, coupled with the fact that Florida and Alabama must play for the SEC Championship, the top four teams could presumably all play in the Pasadena Rose Bowl in January 2010, two in the Rose Bowl Game and two in the BCS National Championship Game.[4]
- November 1, 2009: Florida (8-0); Texas (8-0); Alabama (8-0); Iowa (9-0); Cincinnati (8-0)
- November 8, 2009: Florida (9-0); Alabama (9-0); Texas (9-0); TCU (9-0); Cincinnati (9-0)
- November 15, 2009: Florida (10-0); Alabama (10-0); Texas (10-0); TCU (10-0); Cincinnati (10-0)
- November 22, 2009: Florida (11-0); Alabama (11-0); Texas (11-0); TCU (11-0); Cincinnati (10-0)
- November 29, 2009: Florida (12-0); Alabama (12-0); Texas (12-0); TCU (12-0); Cincinnati (11-0)
Notes
- All tickets are priced at $275 each.[5]
- Both teams will be housed in hotels and practice in Orange County.
References
- ^ 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game FAQs, TournamentofRoses.com
- ^ Chris Dufresne, "Rose Bowl game moving to ESPN in 2011", Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2009
- ^ Florida is first BCS No. 1 team, FOXSports.com, October 18, 2009
- ^ Chris Dufresne, Rose Bowl's dream scenario is as easy as 1-2-3-4, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2009
- ^ Tournament Events Tickets, Tournamentofroses.com