The 2005–06 NCAA football bowl games were a series of 28 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) that was played in December 2005 and January 2006 for Division I-A football teams and all-stars from Divisions I-AA, II, and III, as well as from the NAIA. The post-season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 20, 2005, and concluded with the Senior Bowl, played on January 28, 2006.
For the second consecutive year, the 28 team-competitive bowl games were played by 56 teams with winning records, as no teams with non-winning seasons (6–6, or .500) were invited to participate in bowl games.
Schedule –Non-BCS BowlsDateTimeGameSiteMatchupRef. Dec 20 8:00 PM New Orleans Bowl Cajun FieldLafayette, LA Southern Miss 31, Arkansas State 19 Dec 21 8:00 PM GMAC Bowl Ladd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL Toledo 45, UTEP 13Dec 22 8:00 PM Las Vegas Bowl Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV California 35, BYU 28 10:30 PM Poinsettia Bowl Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA Navy 51, Colorado State 30 Dec 23 8:00 PM Fort Worth Bowl Amon G. Carter StadiumFort Worth, TX Kansas 42, Houston 13 Dec 24 8:30 PM Hawaii Bowl Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI Nevada 49, UCF 48 Dec 26 4:00 PM Motor City Bowl Ford FieldDetroit, MI Memphis 38, Akron 31Dec 27 5:00 PM Champs Sports Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL No. 23 Clemson 19, Colorado 10 8:30 PM Insight Bowl Chase FieldPhoenix, AZ Arizona State 45, Rutgers 40Dec 28 4:30 PM MPC Computers Bowl Bronco StadiumBoise, ID No. 19 Boston College 27, Boise State 21 8:00 PM Alamo Bowl AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX Nebraska 32, No. 20 Michigan 28Dec 29 4:30 PM Emerald Bowl SBC ParkSan Francisco, CA Utah 38, No. 24 Georgia Tech 10 8:00 PM Holiday Bowl Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA Oklahoma 17, No. 6 Oregon 14Dec 30 12:00 PM Music City Bowl The ColiseumNashville, TN Virginia 34, Minnesota 31 2:00 PM Sun Bowl Sun BowlEl Paso, TX No. 17 UCLA 50, Northwestern 38 3:30 PM Independence Bowl Independence StadiumShreveport, LA Missouri 38, South Carolina 31 7:30 PM Peach Bowl Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA No. 10 LSU 40, No. 9 Miami (FL) 3Dec 31 11:00 AM Meineke Car Care Bowl Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC NC State 14, South Florida 0 1:00 PM Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN Tulsa 31, Fresno State 24 2:30 PM Houston Bowl Reliant StadiumHouston, TX No. 14 TCU 27, Iowa State 24Jan 2 11:00 AM Cotton Bowl Cotton BowlDallas, TX No. 13 Alabama 13, No. 18 Texas Tech 10 11:00 AM Outback Bowl Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL No. 16 Florida 31, No. 25 Iowa 24 12:30 PM Gator Bowl Alltel StadiumJacksonville, FL No. 12 Virginia Tech 35, No. 15 Louisville 24 1:00 PM Capital One Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL No. 21 Wisconsin 24, No. 7 Auburn 10BCS BowlsJan 2 4:30 PM Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ No. 4 Ohio State 34, No. 5 Notre Dame 20 8:30 PM Sugar Bowl Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA No. 11 West Virginia 38, No. 8 Georgia 35 Jan 3 8:00 PM Orange Bowl Dolphins StadiumMiami Gardens, FL No. 3 Penn State 26, No. 22 Florida State 23 Jan 4 8:00 PM Rose Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) Rose BowlPasadena, CA No. 2 Texas 41, No. 1 USC 38 Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. All times are in Eastern Time.
Non-BCS bowls
With 64 teams having winning records, and 56 slots in bowl games, there were more teams than slots available for teams to get a bowl bid. Again, as in 2004, two conferences — the Pac 10 and the SEC — did not have enough teams to fill the required number of slots for their non-BCS bowls. A third conference — the Big Ten — had two teams in the BCS (Penn State as the conference champion, and Ohio State meeting Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl January 2). The biggest beneficiary this year was the ACC, which replaced the SEC at the Music City Bowl (Virginia) and the Pac-10 (Georgia Tech) at the Emerald Bowl; Conference USA also gained a slot, sending Memphis to the Motor City Bowl. Unlike last year, where a fighting incident during the game between Clemson and South Carolina led each team to impose a post-season ban, no school forfeited post-season play this year.
The eight teams with winning records that did not get bowl bids were Louisiana Tech (7–4) from the WAC, MAC teams Miami (Ohio) (7–4), Bowling Green (6–5), Western Michigan (7–4), NIU (7–5) and Central Michigan (6–5), Mountain West representative New Mexico (6–5) and the Sun Belt's Louisiana–Lafayette (6–5). Four teams made their Division I-A bowl debuts — Arkansas State (Sun Belt, New Orleans Bowl at Lafayette), South Florida (Big East, ), Central Florida (C-USA, ) and Akron (MAC, Motor City Bowl). Akron, notably, had been the only bowl-eligible team willing to accept an invitation to be left out of the 2004 bowl games. However, none of the teams benefitted from "beginner's luck", as each lost its game.
Participants in non-BCS bowls are selected on the basis of conference tie-ins. All bowl payouts are given in US dollars. All records shown are pre-bowl game.
New Orleans Bowl at Lafayette
Southern Mississippi (6–5) 31, Arkansas State (6–5) 19 The New Orleans Bowl is usually one of two bowls that are played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Due to Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 game was played on December 20 in Lafayette, Louisiana at Cajun Field on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. C-USA's Southern Mississippi returned and defended their title as they defeated the Sun Belt Conference champion Arkansas State, 31–19. The Golden Eagles were led by quarterback Dustin Almond, who threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Cody Hull, who added 161 yards rushing and one touchdown on 37 carries. Special teams play helped the Indians to stay close, with kicker Eric Neihouse kicking a 44-yard field goal and two extra points, and with the team forcing a safety on an attempted Southern Miss punt.
GMAC Bowl
Toledo (8–3) 45, UTEP (8–3) 13 The GMAC Bowl at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama took place on December 21, 2005. Toledo, representing the Mid-American Conference, defeated C-USA's UTEP Miners 45–13. In his last game for the Rockets, quarterback Bruce Gradkowski threw for five touchdowns and 298 yards. Seven of the Miners' 13 points came off the leg of kicker Reagan Schneider, with Johnnie Lee Higgins' catching the only touchdown of the day for UTEP to account for the rest of the scoring.
Las Vegas Bowl
California (7–4) 35, BYU (6–5) 28 The Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium, located about eight miles from the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Whitney, Nevada, was the first game of two to be played on December 22, 2005. In the first matchup of the bowl season to pit a BCS AQ conference team against a BCS non-AQ conference team, California, from the Pac-10, beat Mountain West representative BYU, 35–28. Golden Bears running back Marshawn Lynch, voted the game's most valuable player, ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns on just 24 carries, as California took a 35–14 lead into the fourth quarter before the Cougars recorded two late touchdowns off the arm of quarterback John Beck to make the final victory less decisive.
Emerald Bowl
Utah (6–5) 38, Georgia Tech (7–4) 10 The Emerald Bowl at SBC Park (now known as AT&T Park), usually the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, California was played on December 29, 2005. The MWC's Utah, which last year became the first school from a BCS non-automatic qualifying conference to appear in a BCS bowl, jumped out to a 20–0 lead and played well throughout to defeat the ACC's Georgia Tech, 38–10. Utes junior transfer quarterback Brett Ratliff, filling in for Brian Johnson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury November 12, played superbly, completing 30 of 41 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns and a two-point conversion, compiling a pass efficiency rating of 112.9, bringing to mind the performance of Utah quarterback Alex Smith in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. All of Ratliff's scoring throws went to senior wide receiver Travis LaTendresse, who finished with 16 catches for 214 yards after averaging fewer than five catches per game during the regular season. Running back Quinton Ganther added 120 yards, many as the Utes ran out the clock in the fourth quarter, and a back-breaking 41-yard touchdown with 8:34 to play. Yellow Jackets running back P.J. Daniels exploited the Utah defense for 108 yards on 20 carries, but quarterback Reggie Ball played an uneven game, completing only 47 percent of his passes and throwing two interceptions, one of which came at the Utah 21-yard-line and was returned 45 yards to end a Georgia Tech scoring chance, to just one touchdown. After the Utes recorded three touchdowns in the first 16:02 of the game, Ball brought the Yellow Jackets to within ten at the half, but was unable to make consistent progress the rest of the game, finding star wide receiver Calvin Johnson only twice for 19 yards. Georgia Tech took a slot normally reserved for the Pac-10, which failed to qualify enough teams for bowl eligibility. Utah became the first BCS non-AQ school to defeat a BCS AQ conference team this bowl season. The Emerald Bowl is now known as the Fight Hunger Bowl.
Poinsettia Bowl
Navy (8–3) 51, Colorado State (6–5) 30 The inaugural Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California was also played on December 22 when independent Navy beat the Mountain West's Colorado State, 51–30. Bringing the nation's number one-ranked rushing offense against the nation's 105th ranked rushing defense, the Midshipmen broke the game open in the second quarter, when running back Reggie Campbell scored two of his NCAA bowl record-tying five touchdowns; he finished with 116 yards rushing, 89 yards receiving, and 85 yards returning. Quarterback Justin Holland led the Rams in a losing effort, throwing for 381 yards and three touchdowns in completing 79% of his passes.
Fort Worth Bowl
Kansas (6–5) 42, Houston (6–5) 13 The Fort Worth Bowl at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas was contested December 23, 2005. Kansas, from the Big 12, who qualified on the last Saturday in November for a bowl game, defeated Houston from C-USA, 42–13, thanks to Jason Swanson's four touchdown passes. Running back Jon Cornish paced the Jayhawks with 101 rushing yards on just 16 carries, while the defense pressured Cougars quarterback Kevin Kolb into three interceptions, also sacking him twice. After this season, the Bowl got a new sponsor in Bell Helicopters as well as a new name in the "Armed Forces Bowl", and started to invite a MWC teams to challenge the C-USA team as part of a rotation with the Pac 10.
Hawaii Bowl
Nevada (8–3) 49, Central Florida (8–4) 48 (overtime) The Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii was played on December 24, 2005. For the first time since the game was first contested in 2002, the Hawaii Warriors did not play in this game, as they had a losing record in 2005, disqualifying them from bowl eligibility. Nevada, the WAC co-champion, beat C-USA's Central Florida, 49–48, as Golden Knights kicker Matt Prater missed an extra point in overtime, sealing a defeat for UCF, who was playing in its first ever bowl game, having gone winless as recently as 2004. Each team gained over 550 yards, and each had three players average better than five yards per carry; freshman running back Kevin Smith led the Golden Knights with 202 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries, while running backs B.J. Mitchell and Robert Hubbard combined to gain 304 yards on 38 carries, also adding five touchdowns.
Motor City Bowl
Memphis (6–5) 38, Akron (7–5) 31