2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season

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).

2010 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams	120
Duration	September 2 – December 11
Preseason AP No. 1	Alabama
Postseason
Duration	December 18, 2010 – January 10, 2011
Bowl games	35
Heisman Trophy	Cam Newton (quarterback, Auburn)
Bowl Championship Series
2011 BCS Championship Game
Site	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona
Champion(s)	Auburn
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2009 2011 →

The regular season began on September 2, 2010, and ended on December 11, 2010. The postseason concluded on January 10, 2011, with the BCS National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Auburn Tigers defeated the Oregon Ducks to complete an undefeated season and win their sixth national title in school history.

Rule changes

• Wedge blocks are now banned on kickoffs.
• Messages on eye-black, such as those worn by Tim Tebow, Reggie Bush, and Case Keenum are no longer allowed.^[1][2]

Conference realignment

Main article: 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment

Multiple conferences announced changes in membership throughout 2010, triggering a major realignment that would eventually affect all 11 FBS leagues. Due to conference notice requirements, these changes would not take effect until 2011 at the earliest.

The first change came on June 10, when the Pacific-10 Conference announced that Colorado had accepted their invitation to join from the Big 12.

The following day, June 11, saw two schools change conferences. The Mountain West Conference announced that Boise State had accepted their invitation to join from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), while Nebraska ended its longstanding affiliation with the Big Eight/Big 12 to join the Big Ten Conference. Both moves would take effect starting with the 2011–2012 academic year.

In the following days, it was widely speculated that the five public schools in the Big 12 South Division (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State) would leave for the Pac-10 to create a 16-team "superconference." However, a last-minute deal announced on June 14 saw Texas remain in the Big 12, prompting the other four schools to follow suit. The Pac-10 then extended an invitation to Utah on June 16, who accepted the next day. With the addition of Colorado and Utah, the Pac-10 announced that the conference would change its name to the Pac-12 upon the two new members joining in July 2011.

On August 18, the Mountain West responded to rumors of the imminent departure of Brigham Young by inviting WAC members Fresno State, Nevada, and Utah State. Utah State declined the offer^{[citation needed]}, but Fresno State and Nevada accepted later that day. Following threats of legal action by the WAC, the two schools agreed to stay in the WAC through the 2011–12 season in exchange for a greatly reduced exit fee. BYU officially announced their departure from the Mountain West on September 1. The BYU football team would become an FBS Independent while all other sports would move to the West Coast Conference for the 2011–12 season.^[3]

On November 11, the Western Athletic Conference announced that Texas State, then a member of the FCS Southland Conference, and UTSA, which planned to launch a football team in 2011, would upgrade their football programs to FBS level, join the WAC in 2012, and become full FBS members in 2013.

On November 29, TCU announced it would leave the Mountain West to join the Big East in 2012. The Mountain West replaced TCU by adding Hawaiʻi as a football-only member on December 10; Hawaiʻi's other sports would join the Big West Conference.

New and updated stadiums

No new stadiums opened in the 2010 season. However, expansion projects at several stadiums were completed in time for the season:

• Alabama: The seventh major expansion of Bryant–Denny Stadium increased the capacity from 92,138 to 101,821.
• East Carolina: The east end zone at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium was enclosed, increasing capacity from 43,000 to 50,000.
• Louisville: A second deck was added to the east side of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, increasing capacity from its original 42,000 to over 56,000.
• Michigan: Michigan Stadium once again claimed the title of largest college football stadium. The new capacity was officially announced on July 14 as 109,901.
• Texas Tech: Renovations to Jones AT&T Stadium increased the capacity to 60,454 and a new building on the stadium's eastern side added an additional 26 suites and 500 club seats.

Season notes

• USC was not eligible to be ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll due to NCAA sanctions. They were also prohibited from playing in a bowl.^[4]
• On September 11, Virginia Tech, then No. 13 in the AP Poll, was stunned at home by in-state FCS team James Madison. The Dukes' 21–16 victory was only the second by an FCS school over a ranked FBS team, after Appalachian State's historic upset of Michigan in 2007.^[5]
• The University of Texas reached an agreement with ESPN to distribute the Longhorn Network on cable systems in the fall of 2011. The deal is for 10 years and guarantees Texas $12 million annually on top of the television revenue UT would receive as part of the Big 12's current television contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox. The Longhorn Network would be the first sports-centric network for a university and was slated to broadcast third-tier programming, but UT men's athletic director DeLoss Dodds has asked the Big 12 to be allowed to air one football game, and a smattering of men's basketball games.
• The CBS telecast of the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn on November 26, 2010, earned a 7.5 rating, the highest for any game of the 2010 college football season through week 13.^[6]

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

• Week 1
  • No. 3 Boise State defeated No. 10 Virginia Tech, 33–30 (FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland)
• Week 4
  • No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 10 Arkansas, 24–20 (Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas)
• Week 5
  • No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 7 Florida, 31–6 (Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
  • No. 4 Oregon defeated No. 9 Stanford, 52–31 (Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon)
• Week 8
  • No. 4/5 Auburn defeated No. 6/6 LSU, 24–17 (Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama)
• Week 10
  • No. 3/4 TCU defeated No. 5/6 Utah, 47–7 (Rice–Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah)
  • No. 10/12 LSU defeated No. 6/5 Alabama, 24–17 (Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
• Week 13
  • No. 2/2 Auburn defeated No. 11/9 Alabama, 28–27 (Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Conference standings

2010 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Atlantic Division No. 17 Florida State x   6 – 2     10 – 4   No. 23 Maryland   5 – 3     9 – 4   No. 25 NC State   5 – 3     9 – 4   Boston College   4 – 4     7 – 6   Clemson   4 – 4     6 – 7   Wake Forest   1 – 7     3 – 9   Coastal Division No. 16 Virginia Tech x$   8 – 0     11 – 3   Miami (FL)   5 – 3     7 – 6   Georgia Tech   4 – 4     6 – 7   North Carolina   4 – 4     8 – 5   Duke   1 – 7     3 – 9   Virginia   1 – 7     4 – 8   Championship: Virginia Tech 44, Florida State 33 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2010 Big East Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Connecticut $+   5 – 2     8 – 5   West Virginia +   5 – 2     9 – 4   Pittsburgh +   5 – 2     8 – 5   Syracuse   4 – 3     8 – 5   South Florida   3 – 4     8 – 5   Louisville   3 – 4     7 – 6   Cincinnati   2 – 5     4 – 8   Rutgers   1 – 6     4 – 8   $ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions As of January 11, 2011 Rankings from AP Poll	2010 Big Ten Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Michigan State +   7 – 1     11 – 2   No. 7 Wisconsin $+   7 – 1     11 – 2   Iowa   4 – 4     8 – 5   Illinois   4 – 4     7 – 6   Penn State   4 – 4     7 – 6   Michigan   3 – 5     7 – 6   Northwestern   3 – 5     7 – 6   Purdue   2 – 6     4 – 8   Minnesota   2 – 6     3 – 9   Indiana   1 – 7     5 – 7   No. 5 Ohio State† %   0 – 1     0 – 1   $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions † – Ohio State (12–1, 7–1) self-vacated all of their wins[7] Rankings from AP Poll[8][9]
2010 Big 12 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division No. 20 Nebraska xy   6 – 2     10 – 4   No. 18 Missouri x   6 – 2     10 – 3   Kansas State   3 – 5     7 – 6   Iowa State   3 – 5     5 – 7   Colorado   2 – 6     5 – 7   Kansas   1 – 7     3 – 9   South Division No. 6 Oklahoma xy$   6 – 2     12 – 2   No. 13 Oklahoma State x   6 – 2     11 – 2   No. 19 Texas A&M x   6 – 2     9 – 4   Baylor   4 – 4     7 – 6   Texas Tech   3 – 5     8 – 5   Texas   2 – 6     5 – 7   Championship: Oklahoma 23, Nebraska 20 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll	2010 Conference USA football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 21 UCF x$   7 – 1     11 – 3   East Carolina   5 – 3     6 – 7   Southern Miss   5 – 3     8 – 5   Marshall   4 – 4     5 – 7   UAB   3 – 5     4 – 8   Memphis   0 – 8     1 – 11   West Division SMU xy   6 – 2     7 – 7   No. 24 Tulsa x   6 – 2     10 – 3   Houston   4 – 4     5 – 7   UTEP   3 – 5     6 – 7   Rice   3 – 5     4 – 8   Tulane   2 – 6     4 – 8   Championship: UCF 17, SMU 7 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of January 11, 2011 Rankings from AP Poll	2010 Mid-American Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Miami (OH) x$   7 – 1     10 – 4   Ohio   6 – 2     8 – 5   Temple   5 – 3     8 – 4   Kent State   4 – 4     5 – 7   Bowling Green   1 – 7     2 – 10   Buffalo   1 – 7     2 – 10   Akron   1 – 7     1 – 11   West Division Northern Illinois x   8 – 0     11 – 3   Toledo   7 – 1     8 – 5   Western Michigan   5 – 3     6 – 6   Ball State   3 – 5     4 – 8   Central Michigan   2 – 6     3 – 9   Eastern Michigan   2 – 6     2 – 10   Championship: Miami 26, Northern Illinois 21 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions
2010 Mountain West Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 TCU $   8 – 0     13 – 0   Utah   7 – 1     10 – 3   Air Force   5 – 3     9 – 4   San Diego State   5 – 3     9 – 4   BYU   5 – 3     7 – 6   Colorado State   2 – 6     3 – 9   UNLV   2 – 6     2 – 11   Wyoming   1 – 7     3 – 9   New Mexico   1 – 7     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria As of January 11, 2011 Rankings from AP Poll	2010 Pacific-10 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 Oregon $   9 – 0     12 – 1   No. 4 Stanford %   8 – 1     12 – 1   USC †   5 – 4     8 – 5   Washington   5 – 4     7 – 6   Arizona   4 – 5     7 – 6   Arizona State   4 – 5     6 – 6   Oregon State   4 – 5     5 – 7   California   3 – 6     5 – 7   UCLA   2 – 7     4 – 8   Washington State   1 – 8     2 – 10   $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative † – USC ineligible for championship and post-season due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from AP Poll	2010 Southeastern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Eastern Division No. 22 South Carolina x   5 – 3     9 – 5   Florida   4 – 4     8 – 5   Georgia   3 – 5     6 – 7   Tennessee   3 – 5     6 – 7   Kentucky   2 – 6     6 – 7   Vanderbilt   1 – 7     2 – 10   Western Division No. 1 Auburn x$#   8 – 0     14 – 0   No. 12 Arkansas %   6 – 2     10 – 3   No. 8 LSU   6 – 2     11 – 2   No. 10 Alabama   5 – 3     10 – 3   No. 15 Mississippi State   4 – 4     9 – 4   Ole Miss*   1 – 7     4 – 8   Championship: Auburn 56, South Carolina 17 # – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions * Ole Miss vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll
2010 Sun Belt Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Troy +   6 – 2     8 – 5   FIU +   6 – 2     7 – 6   Middle Tennessee   5 – 3     6 – 7   Louisiana–Monroe   4 – 4     5 – 7   Arkansas State   4 – 4     4 – 8   Florida Atlantic   3 – 5     4 – 8   Louisiana–Lafayette   3 – 5     3 – 9   North Texas   3 – 5     3 – 9   Western Kentucky   2 – 6     2 – 10   + – Conference co-champions	2010 Western Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 Nevada +   7 – 1     13 – 1   No. 9 Boise State +   7 – 1     12 – 1   Hawaii +   7 – 1     10 – 4   Fresno State   5 – 3     8 – 5   Louisiana Tech   4 – 4     5 – 7   Idaho   3 – 5     6 – 7   Utah State   2 – 6     4 – 8   New Mexico State   1 – 7     2 – 10   San Jose State   0 – 8     1 – 12   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2010 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Navy     –       9 – 4   Notre Dame     –       8 – 5   Army     –       7 – 6   Rankings from AP Poll

Conference summaries

Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the conference championship games were played.

Conference championship games

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
ACC	No. 12 Virginia Tech	No. 20 Florida State	44–33	Tyrod Taylor, QB, Virginia Tech[10]	Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson[10]	Ralph Friedgen, Maryland[11]
Big 12	No. 10 Oklahoma	No. 13 Nebraska	23–20	Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State[12]	Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska[12]	Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State[12]
C-USA	UCF	SMU	17–7	Dwayne Harris, WR/KR, East Carolina (MVP)[13] G.J. Kinne, QB, Tulsa[13]	Bruce Miller, DE, UCF[13]	George O'Leary, UCF[14]
MAC	Miami (OH)	No. 24 Northern Illinois	26–21	Chad Spann, RB, Northern Illinois[15]	Roosevelt Nix, DT, Kent State[15]	Mike Haywood, Miami[15]
SEC	No. 2 Auburn	No. 18 South Carolina	56–17	Cam Newton, QB, Auburn[16]	Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU[16]	Steve Spurrier, South Carolina[16]

Other conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
Big East	Connecticut* Pittsburgh #23 West Virginia	8–4 7–5 9–3	Jordan Todman, RB, Connecticut[17]	Jabaal Sheard, DE, Pittsburgh[17]	Randy Edsall, Connecticut and Charlie Strong, Louisville[17]
Big Ten	No. 7 Michigan State No. 6 Ohio State (vacated) No. 4 Wisconsin*	11–1 11–1 11–1	Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan[18]	Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue[18]	Mark Dantonio, Michigan State[18]
MWC	No. 3 TCU	12–0	Andy Dalton, QB, TCU[19]	Tank Carder, LB, TCU[19]	Brady Hoke, San Diego State[19]
Pac-10	No. 1 Oregon	12–0	Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford[20]	Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State[20]	Chip Kelly, Oregon[20]
Sun Belt	FIU Troy	6–6 7–5	T. Y. Hilton, WR/KR, FIU (Player of the Year)[21] Bobby Rainey, RB, Western Kentucky (Offensive POY)[21]	Jamari Lattimore, DE, Middle Tennessee[21]	Mario Cristobal, FIU[21]
WAC	No. 9 Boise State #25 Hawaiʻi #14 Nevada	11–1 10–3 12–1	Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State and Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada[22]	Chris Carter, DE, Fresno State[22]	Chris Ault, Nevada[22]

* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.

In 2011, Ohio State vacated all twelve wins and their share of the Big Ten title from the 2010 season after it was revealed that several players had committed NCAA violations by receiving improper benefits from a local business owner.^[23]

Final BCS rankings

BCS	School	Record	BCS Bowl Game
1	Auburn	13–0	BCS National Championship
2	Oregon	12–0	BCS National Championship
3	TCU	12–0	Rose
4	Stanford	11–1	Orange
5	Wisconsin	11–1	Rose
6	Ohio State	11–1	Sugar
7	Oklahoma	11–2	Fiesta
8	Arkansas	10–2	Sugar
9	Michigan State	11–1
10	Boise State	11–1
11	LSU	10–2
12	Missouri	10–2
13	Virginia Tech	11–2	Orange
14	Oklahoma State	10–2
15	Nevada	12–1
16	Alabama	9–3
17	Texas A&M	9–3
18	Nebraska	10–3
19	Utah	10–2
20	South Carolina	9–4
21	Mississippi State	8–4
22	West Virginia	9–3
23	Florida State	9–4
24	Hawaiʻi	10–3
25	UCF	10–3

• Despite not being in the BCS rankings, Connecticut (8–4) played in the Fiesta Bowl by virtue of being the Big East Conference Champion.

Bowl games

Main article: 2010–11 NCAA football bowl games

Non-BCS Bowls
Date	Game	Site	Television	Participants and Results
Dec. 18	New Mexico Bowl	University Stadium University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 2:00 pm	ESPN	Brigham Young (6–6) 52 UTEP (6–6) 24
	uDrove Humanitarian Bowl	Bronco Stadium Boise State University Boise, ID 5:30 pm		Northern Illinois (10–3) 40 Fresno State (8–4) 17
	R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA 9:00 pm		Troy (7–5) 48 Ohio (8–4) 21
Dec. 21	Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00 pm		Southern Mississippi (8–4) 28 Louisville (6–6) 31
Dec. 22	Maaco Bowl Las Vegas	Sam Boyd Stadium University of Nevada, Las Vegas Whitney, NV 8:00 pm		No. 19 Utah (10–2) 3 No. 10 Boise State (11–1) 26
Dec. 23	SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA 8:00 pm		Navy (9–3) 14 San Diego State (8–4) 35
Dec. 24	Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:00 pm		No. 24 Hawaiʻi (10–3) 35 Tulsa (9–3) 62
Dec. 26	Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	Ford Field Detroit, MI 8:30 pm		Florida International (6–6) 34 Toledo (8–4) 32
Dec. 27	AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA 5:00 pm	ESPN2	Air Force (8–4) 14 Georgia Tech (6–6) 7
Dec. 28	Champs Sports Bowl	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL 6:30 pm	ESPN	No. 22 West Virginia (9–3) 7 North Carolina State (9–3) 23
	Insight Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 10:00 pm		No. 12 Missouri (10–2) 24 Iowa (7–5) 27
Dec. 29	Military Bowl Pres. By Northrop Grumman	RFK Stadium Washington D.C. 2:30 pm		East Carolina (6–6) 20 Maryland (8–4) 51
	Texas Bowl	Reliant Stadium Houston, TX 6:00 pm		Illinois (6–6) 38 Baylor (7–5) 14
	Valero Alamo Bowl	Alamodome San Antonio, TX 9:15 pm		No. 14 Oklahoma State (10–2) 36 Arizona (7–5) 10
Dec. 30	Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl	Gerald J. Ford Stadium Southern Methodist University University Park, TX 12:00 pm		Army (6–6) 16 Southern Methodist (7–6) 14
	New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Yankee Stadium The Bronx, New York, NY 3:20 pm		Kansas State (7–5) 34 Syracuse (7–5) 36
	Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl	LP Field Nashville, TN 6:40 pm		North Carolina (7–5) 30 Tennessee (6–6) 27 (2OT)
	Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA 10:00 pm		No. 18 Nebraska (10–3) 7 Washington (6–6) 19
Dec. 31	Meineke Car Care Bowl	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC 12:00 pm		South Florida (7–5) 31 Clemson (6–6) 26
	Hyundai Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium University of Texas El Paso El Paso, TX 2:00 pm	CBS	Notre Dame (7–5) 33 Miami (FL) (7–5) 17
	AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memphis, TN 3:30 pm	ESPN	Georgia (6–6) 6 No. 25 Central Florida (10–3) 10
	Chick-fil-A Bowl	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA 7:30 pm		No. 20 South Carolina (9–4) 17 No. 23 Florida State (9–4) 26
Jan. 1	TicketCity Bowl	Cotton Bowl Fair Park, Dallas, TX 12:00 pm	ESPNU	Northwestern (7–5) 38 Texas Tech (7–5) 45
	Outback Bowl	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL 1:00 pm	ABC	Florida (8–4) 37 Penn State (7–5) 24
	Capital One Bowl	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL 1:00 pm	ESPN	No. 16 Alabama (9–3) 49 No. 9 Michigan State (11–1) 7
	Progressive Gator Bowl	EverBank Field Jacksonville, FL 1:30 pm	ESPN2	No. 21 Mississippi State (8–4) 52 Michigan (7–5) 14
Jan. 6	GoDaddy.com Bowl	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL 8:00 pm	ESPN	Middle Tennessee (6–6) 21 Miami (OH) (9–4) 35
Jan. 7	AT&T Cotton Bowl	Cowboys Stadium Arlington, TX 8:00 pm	Fox	No. 11 LSU (10–2) 41 No. 17 Texas A&M (9–3) 24
Jan. 8	BBVA Compass Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, AL 12:00 pm	ESPN	Pittsburgh (7–5) 27 Kentucky (6–6) 10
Jan. 9	Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl	AT&T Park San Francisco, CA 9:00 pm		No. 15 Nevada (12–1) 20 Boston College (7–5) 13
Bowl Championship Series
Date	Game	Site	Television	Participants and Results
Jan. 1	Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA 4:30 pm	ESPN	No. 5 Wisconsin (11–1) 19 No. 3 TCU (12–0) 21
	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ 8:30 pm		Connecticut (8–4) 20 No. 7 Oklahoma (11–2) 48
Jan. 3	Discover Orange Bowl	Sun Life Stadium Miami Gardens, FL 8:30 pm		No. 4 Stanford (11–1) 40 No. 13 Virginia Tech (11–2) 12
Jan. 4	Allstate Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm		No. 6 Ohio State (11–1) 31 No. 8 Arkansas (10–2) 26
Jan. 10	Tostitos BCS National Championship Game	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ 8:30 pm		No. 2 Oregon (12–0) 19 No. 1 Auburn (13–0) 22

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Cam Newton	Auburn	QB	729	24	28	2,263
Andrew Luck	Stanford	QB	78	309	227	1,079
LaMichael James	Oregon	RB	22	313	224	916
Kellen Moore	Boise State	QB	40	165	185	635
Justin Blackmon	Oklahoma State	WR	1	23	56	105
Denard Robinson	Michigan	QB	6	16	34	84
Ryan Mallett	Arkansas	QB	0	11	19	41
Colin Kaepernick	Nevada	QB	0	7	17	31
Andy Dalton	TCU	QB	4	3	12	30
Owen Marecic	Stanford	FB/LB	3	1	5	16

Source: ^[24]

Other award winners

Overall

• AP Player of the Year: Cameron Newton, Auburn
• Maxwell Award (top player): Cameron Newton, Auburn
• Walter Camp Award (top player): Cameron Newton, Auburn

Niche

• Campbell Trophy ("academic Heisman", formerly the Draddy Trophy): Sam Acho, Texas
• Wuerffel Trophy (humanitarian-athlete): Sam Acho, Texas
• Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player): Owen Marecic, Stanford
• Burlsworth Trophy (top player who began as walk-on): Sean Bedford, Georgia Tech

Offense

Quarterback

• Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Cameron Newton, Auburn
• Johnny Unitas Award (senior quarterback): Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin
• Manning Award (quarterback): Cameron Newton, Auburn
• Sammy Baugh Trophy (quarterback, specifically passer): Landry Jones, Oklahoma

Running Back

• Doak Walker Award (running back): LaMichael James, Oregon

Wide Receiver

• Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State

Tight End

• John Mackey Award (tight end): D.J. Williams, Arkansas

Lineman

Gabe Carimi

• Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Jake Kirkpatrick, TCU
• Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin

Defense

• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): Da'Quan Bowers, Clemson
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Patrick Peterson, LSU
• Lott Trophy (defensive impact): J. J. Watt, Wisconsin

Defensive Line

• Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): Da'Quan Bowers, Clemson
• Lombardi Award (defensive lineman): Nick Fairley, Auburn

Linebacker

• Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): Von Miller, Texas A&M

Defensive Back

• Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Patrick Peterson, LSU

Special teams

• Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Dan Bailey, Oklahoma State
• Ray Guy Award (punter): Chas Henry, Florida

Coaches

• AP Coach of the Year: Chip Kelly, Oregon
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award: Gene Chizik, Auburn
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Gene Chizik, Auburn
• Walter Camp Coach of the Year: Chip Kelly, Oregon
• Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year: Chip Kelly, Oregon
• Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award: Chris Petersen, Boise State
• Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of the Year Award: Gene Chizik, Auburn

Assistant

• Broyles Award (assistant coach): Gus Malzahn, Auburn

All-Americans

Main article: 2010 College Football All-America Team

Records

• Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno, in his 45th season, has achieved a feat that no coach in major college football history has ever reached: the 400-win mark. Paterno already held records for the most wins in major college football history as well as the most bowl wins (24) in college football history.
• Kyle Brotzman of Boise State set a new Division I record for most career points by a kicker. His 439 career points surpassed the former record of 433 by Art Carmody of Louisville.
• Miami (Ohio) became the first team in FBS history to win 10 or more games after losing 10 or more games in the previous season.

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2010. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2010, see 2009 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.

Team	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Vanderbilt	Bobby Johnson	July 14	Retired	Robbie Caldwell[25]
Minnesota	Tim Brewster	October 17	Fired after 1–6 start	Jeff Horton (interim)[26]
North Texas	Todd Dodge	October 20	Fired after 1–6 start	Mike Canales (interim)[27]
Colorado	Dan Hawkins	November 9	Fired after 3–6 start	Brian Cabral (interim)[28]

End of season

Note:

• All dates in November and December are in 2010; all January dates are in 2011.
• The "resigned/fired" listing indicates that a coach technically resigned, but at least one media report has stated that he was effectively fired.

Team	Outgoing coach	Date of departure	Reason	Replacement	Date of replacement
Kent State	Doug Martin	November 21 (effective November 27)[29]	Resigned	Darrell Hazell	December 20
Ball State	Stan Parrish	November 22[30]	Fired	Pete Lembo[31]	December 20
Vanderbilt	Robbie Caldwell	November 27[32]	Resigned	James Franklin[33]	December 17
Miami (FL)	Randy Shannon	November 27[34]	Fired	Al Golden[35]	December 12
Indiana	Bill Lynch	November 28[36]	Fired	Kevin Wilson[37]	December 7
Arkansas State	Steve Roberts	November 29[38]	Resigned/fired[39]	Hugh Freeze[39]	December 2
Louisiana-Lafayette	Rickey Bustle	November 29[40]	Fired	Mark Hudspeth[41]	December 13
North Texas	Mike Canales (interim)	November 30[42]	Permanent replacement	Dan McCarney[42]	November 30
Minnesota	Jeff Horton (interim)	December 5[43]	Permanent replacement	Jerry Kill[43]	December 5
Northern Illinois	Jerry Kill	December 5[43]	Hired by Minnesota[43]	Tom Matukewicz (interim)[44]	December 9
				Dave Doeren (permanent)[45]	December 13 (effective January 2)
Colorado	Brian Cabral (interim)	December 6[46]	Permanent replacement	Jon Embree	December 6
Florida	Urban Meyer	December 8 (effective January 2)[47]	Resigned	Will Muschamp[48]	December 11 (effective January 2)
Pittsburgh	Dave Wannstedt	December 7[49]	Resigned/fired	Mike Haywood[50]	December 16 (fired on Jan. 1)
Temple	Al Golden	December 12	Hired by Miami (FL)[35]	Steve Addazio[51]	December 22 (effective date TBA)
Miami (OH)	Mike Haywood	December 16	Hired by Pittsburgh[50]	Lance Guidry (interim)[52]	December 16
				Don Treadwell (permanent)[53]	December 31 (effective January 10)
Maryland	Ralph Friedgen	December 20	Fired	Randy Edsall[54]	January 2
Pittsburgh	Mike Haywood	January 1	Fired[55]	Phil Bennett (interim)	January 3
				Todd Graham (permanent)[56]	January 10
Connecticut	Randy Edsall	January 2	Hired by Maryland[54]	Paul Pasqualoni[57]	January 13
Michigan	Rich Rodriguez	January 5	Fired[58]	Brady Hoke[59]	January 11
Stanford	Jim Harbaugh	January 7	Hired by San Francisco 49ers[60]	David Shaw[61]	January 13
Tulsa	Todd Graham	January 10	Hired by Pittsburgh[56]	Bill Blankenship[62]	January 14
San Diego State	Brady Hoke	January 11	Hired by Michigan[59]	Rocky Long[63]	January 12

TV ratings

Ten most watched regular season games in 2010

• 1. November 26 - Iron Bowl/The Cam-Back - CBS - 2 Auburn vs 9 Alabama - 12.5 Million viewers
• 2. December 4 - 2010 SEC Championship - CBS - 1 Auburn vs 19 South Carolina - 10.1 Million viewers
• 3. September 6 - ESPN - 3 Boise State vs. 5 Virginia Tech - 9.9 Million viewers
• 4. December 4 - 2010 Big 12 Championship - ESPN on ABC - 13 Nebraska vs 10 Oklahoma - 8.98 Million viewers
• 5. October 2 - CBS - 7 Florida vs 1 Alabama - 8.6 Million viewers
• 6. November 13 - Deep South's Oldest Rivalry - CBS - Georgia vs 2 Auburn - 8.3 Million viewers
• 7. September 25 - CBS - 1 Alabama vs 10 Arkansas - 8.2 Million viewers
• 8. November 26 - ESPN - 21 Arizona vs 1 Oregon - 7.8 Million viewers
• 9. October 9 - CBS - 1 Alabama vs 19 South Carolina - 7.7 Million viewers
• 10. September 11 - ESPN - 18 Penn State vs 1 Alabama -7.2 Million viewers

7 of 10 games involved with SEC teams - All seven involved a team from the State of Alabama