The Big East Conference was a collegiate athletics conference that consisted of as many as 16 universities in the eastern half of the United States from 1979 to 2013. The conference's members participated in 24 NCAA sports. The conference had a history of success at the national level in basketball throughout its history, while its shorter football program, created by inviting one college and four other "associate members" into the conference, resulted in two national championships.
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as an associate member in Hawaii. Gloria Nevarez took over as commissioner of the MW on January 1, 2023, following the retirement of founding commissioner Craig Thompson.
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been played at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Since 2022, it has been sponsored by Vrbo and officially known as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Previous sponsors include PlayStation, BattleFrog, Vizio, Tostitos, IBM (1993–1995) and Sunkist (1986–1990).
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including an opportunity for the top two teams to compete in the BCS National Championship Game. The system was in place for the 1998 through 2013 seasons and in 2014 was replaced by the College Football Playoff under its original four-team format.
The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four designated bowl games, and beginning in the 2006 season as a standalone event rotated among the host sites of the aforementioned bowls.
Gary Allen Patterson is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the special assistant to the head coach at the University of Texas. He is the former head football coach at Texas Christian University and the coach with the most wins in Horned Frogs' history. Patterson led the TCU Horned Frogs to six conference championships and eleven bowl game victories, including victories in the 2011 Rose Bowl and 2014 Peach Bowl. His 2010 squad finished the season undefeated at 13–0 after a 21–19 Rose Bowl victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on New Year's Day 2011, and ranked second in the final tallying of both major polls.
The 2008 Mountain West Conference football season was the 10th since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the MW. The University of Utah won their fourth conference championship, ending the year 13–0 with a victory over Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system used between 1998 and 2013 that was designed, through polls and computer statistics, to determine a No. 1 and No. 2 ranked team in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). After the final polls, the two top teams were chosen to play in the BCS National Championship Game which determined the BCS national champion team, but not the champion team for independent voting systems. This format was intended to be "bowl-centered" rather than a traditional playoff system, since numerous FBS Conferences had expressed their unwillingness to participate in a play-off system. However, due to the unique and often esoteric nature of the BCS format, there had been controversy as to which two teams should play for the national championship and which teams should play in the four other BCS bowl games. In this selection process, the BCS was often criticized for conference favoritism, its inequality of access for teams in non-Automatic Qualifying (non-AQ) Conferences, and perceived monopolistic, "profit-centered" motives. In terms of this last concern, Congress explored the possibility on more than one occasion of holding hearings to determine the legality of the BCS under the terms of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the United States Justice Department also periodically announced interest in investigating the BCS for similar reasons.
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.
The 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the #4 TCU Horned Frogs, champions of the Mountain West Conference, and the #6 Boise State Broncos, champions of the Western Athletic Conference. The game was played Monday, January 4, 2010, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The game was part of the 2009–10 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams involved.
The 2009 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) football season was an NCAA football season played from September 3, 2009, to January 4, 2010. The Western Athletic Conference consists of 9 members: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, and Utah State. Boise State won the 2009 WAC title going 13–0, 8–0 in conference and were invited to play in the Fiesta Bowl, in which they defeated previously unbeaten TCU. Nevada, Fresno State, and Idaho also played in bowl games, the Hawaiʻi Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, and Humanitarian Bowl, respectively. Nevada lost to SMU and Fresno State lost to Wyoming, while Idaho beat Bowling Green.
The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The 2010 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Broncos were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Petersen and played their home games at Bronco Stadium. They entered the 2010 season with winning streaks of 14 games overall and 25 games in regular-season play. This was the Broncos' final season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, as the school announced on June 11, 2010, that it would leave the WAC for the Mountain West Conference effective July 1, 2011.
The 2010 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) football season was an NCAA football season played from September 2, 2010 – January 9, 2011. The Western Athletic Conference in 2010 consisted of 9 members: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, and Utah State.
The 2011 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Broncos were led by head coach Chris Petersen, winner of the 2010 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, and played their home games at Bronco Stadium. This season was Boise State's first in the Mountain West Conference after spending the previous ten years in the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 12–1, 6–1 Mountain West play to finish in second place. They were invited the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas for the second consecutive year where they defeated Arizona State 56–24.
The 2011 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Horned Frogs were led by 11th-year head coach Gary Patterson and played their home games at Amon G. Carter Stadium. They were members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 7–0 in Mountain West play to win their third straight conference championship. They were invited to the Poinsettia Bowl, where they defeated Western Athletic Conference champion Louisiana Tech, 31–24.
The 2011 Western Athletic Conference football season is a college football season for the Western Athletic Conference. The 2011 season consisted of eight members: Fresno State, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, and Utah State.
The 2012 Mountain West Conference football season was the 14th season of college football for the Mountain West Conference (MW). In the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the MW had 10 football members: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaiʻi, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, and Wyoming.
The 2012 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Broncos were led by head coach Chris Petersen and played their home games at Bronco Stadium. This season was Boise State's second in the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in Mountain West play to share the conference championship with Fresno State and San Diego State. They were invited to and were champions of the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas for the third consecutive year, this year defeating Washington 28–26.
The 2013 Mountain West Conference football season was the 15th season of college football for the Mountain West Conference (MW). In the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the MW had 12 football members: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaiʻi, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, and Wyoming.
