NCAA football bowl games, 2008-09
| 2008–09 NCAA football bowl games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bowl sites by state
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| Season | 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regular season | August 28–December 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of bowls | 34 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All-star games | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl games | December 20, 2008 – January 31, 2009 |
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| National Championship | 2009 BCS Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location of Championship |
Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida |
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| Champions | Florida Gators | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Challenge Cup winner | Pac-10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bowl Record by Conference | |||
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| Conference | Bowls | Record | Final AP Poll |
| ACC | 10 | 4–6 (0.400) | 2 |
| SEC | 8 | 6–2 (0.750) | 4 |
| Big 12 | 7 | 4–3 (0.571) | 5 |
| Big Ten | 7 | 1–6 (0.143) | 4 |
| Big East | 6 | 4–2 (0.667) | 2 |
| Conference USA | 6 | 4–2 (0.667) | 0 |
| Pac-10 | 5 | 5–0 (1.000) | 3 |
| Mountain West | 5 | 3–2 (0.600) | 3 |
| WAC | 5 | 1–4 (0.200) | 1 |
| MAC | 5 | 0–5 (0.000) | 1 |
| Independents | 2 | 1–1 (0.500) | 0 |
| Sun Belt | 2 | 1–1 (0.500) | 0 |
The 2008–09 NCAA football bowl games, which concluded the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, contained a record number of bowl games scheduled in college football history. A total of 37 bowl games, 34 team-competitive games and three all-star games, were played starting on December 20, 2008 with four contests and concludeing with the Texas vs. The Nation Game in El Paso, Texas, played on January 31, 2009 at Sun Bowl Stadium. For the first time in 62 years, however, the Hula Bowl was not a part of the post-season as it was cancelled indefinitely.
The NCAA divided Division I schools into two divisions starting in 1978: The Football Bowl Subdivision (known as Division I-A from 1978 through 2005) does not have a playoff system, and rewards schools which have football programs with outstanding records on the field during a season to play in bowl games as a reward. The Football Championship Subdivision (known through this same period as Division I-AA) plays in a sixteen-team, single elimination tournament for a recognized national championship, with the notable exceptions of the Ivy League, which abstains from football playoff participation, and the Southwestern Athletic Conference, who have their own playoff in this division.
A record 34 team-competitive games were played. To fill the 68 available bowl slots, a total of 9 teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all 9 had a .500 (6-6) season. With the NCAA adding six bowl games (requiring more 12 teams) since the 2006 season – the same year it also changed the rules to allow teams to play as many as 14 games during the season (12 games plus a game against Hawaii plus a conference championship final) – participation by teams with non-winning records, or even losing records (6-7 and 5-7), would become the norm for NCAA bowl games from the 2008 season forward.
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