2010–11 NCAA football bowl games
The 2010–11 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season and included 35 team-competitive bowl games and four all-star games. The games began play with three bowls on December 18, 2010 and included the 2011 BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona played on January 10 at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The bowl season concluded with the East–West Shrine Game, the Eastham Energy All-Star Game, the Senior Bowl, the Dixie Gridiron Classic, and the NFLPA Game. One bowl, the Toronto-based International Bowl, has ceased operations.
| 2010–11 NCAA football bowl games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bowl sites by state | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regular season | September 2, 2010 – December 11, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of bowls | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All-star games | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl games | December 18, 2010 – January 10, 2011 (team-competitive) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Championship | 2011 BCS National Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location of Championship | University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champions | Auburn Tigers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Challenge Cup winner | Mountain West Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A new record of 35 team-competitive bowls, plus five all-star games, were played, including the inaugural TicketCity Bowl and Pinstripe Bowl (the International Bowl was dropped from the schedule this season). While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, this was the fifth consecutive year that teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games. To fill the 70 available team-competitive bowl slots, a new record total of 14 teams (20% of all participants) with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all 14 had a .500 (6-6) season.