SPORTS + OUTDOORS

Come see exciting college football on Dec. 29th at Reliant Stadium at the 5th Annual Texas Bowl. The Texas Bowl is partnered with the Big 12 Conference, Conference USA and the BIG EAST Conference. The bowl will feature a Big 12 school each year, and Conference USA and the BIG EAST will alternate years.

The Texas Bowl looks forward to another great year in 2010! Participating teams will be announced on Sunday, December 5, and the Texas Bowl will have the Number 5 selection in the Big 12 and Big Ten after the BCS.

TexFest will kick off at 2:00 p.m. in Budweiser Plaza on the south side of the stadium and will feature live Texas music, food, family activities and Texas Bowl partner booths. Featured performances from each school’s band and cheerleading squad will build to the team entries into the stadium prior to the game. Come out early and be a part of the biggest pregame party in Texas.Music artists to be announced.

TexFest Features:

* Live Texas music
* Food
* Family activities
* Team Spirit Walks
* And much more

UPDATE December 6, 2010: Baylor University and the University of Illinois each accepted bids to play in the 2010 Texas Bowl, the Texas Bowl Committee announced today. Baylor will represent the Big 12 and Illinois will represent the Big Ten.

The 2010 Texas Bowl will kick off at 5 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Dec. 29, and will be televised on ESPN. The Texas Bowl, owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television (ERT), Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN, holds the fifth choice among non-BCS bowls in each conference. Baylor will be the designated home team for the game.

Tickets, which start at $35, may be purchased online at TicketMaster.com, on the phone at 832-667-2390 or in person at the Reliant Stadium box office inside Budweiser Plaza. Fans may purchase suites by calling (832) 667-2160.

“We were very pleased today to invite Baylor and Illinois to play in the Texas Bowl,” said Heather Houston, Texas Bowl Executive Director. “Baylor fans traveled extremely well to the NCAA Championship basketball regional here at Reliant Stadium last year and we feel confident that energy will transfer to a bowl appearance as well. Illinois has a great football tradition and the largest alumni base in the country. We are thrilled that they are our first ever Big Ten participant.”

Baylor makes its first appearance in a bowl game since 1994, when the Bears played in the Alamo Bowl against Washington State. Led by third-year head coach Art Briles, Baylor finished the season with a 7-5 record, including wins over then-No. 22 Kansas State and Texas in consecutive weeks in October.

“On behalf of Baylor University, President Starr, Coach Briles and our football program it is a great honor to accept an invitation to participate in the 2010 Texas Bowl,” said Baylor Athletic Director Ian McCaw. I want to thank Heather Houston, the Texas Bowl committee, Houston Texans and ESPN for this special opportunity. We are very excited about playing in Houston and look forward to Baylor Nation rising up to fill the stands.”

Coach Briles added, “We’re excited; this is a long time coming for Baylor. This is a reward for the efforts that our football team has put forth and we’re excited about going to Houston to represent Baylor University. For the University, our players, their families and our fans it’s a great location. We’re fortunate that we’re getting to stay in state and play a Big Ten opponent in such a great pro stadium like Reliant.”

The Bears are led on the field by sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin, III, who ranks seventh in the country in total offense with an average of 315.5 yards per game. Griffin is joined in the backfield by senior running back Jay Finley, who has rushed for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.

Illinois is returning to postseason action for the first time since appearing in the 2008 Rose Bowl against USC. Led by head coach Ron Zook, the Fighting Illini finished the regular season with a 6-6 record, including a 4-4 mark in Big Ten play. Illinois was featured in two of the most exciting games of the 2010 college football season, a triple overtime thriller against Michigan and a 48-27 win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field.

“The University of Illinois football team, and the entire University of Illinois community, is excited to get to Houston and play in the Texas Bowl,” said Illinois Athletic Director Ron Guenther. “We had a very good year and we’re looking forward to getting down there and facing Baylor. It’s a great destination and a number of our fans are located in Texas, so we’re looking forward to being there.”

Coach Zook added, “We at the University of Illinois are very excited about the opportunity to come to Houston and play in the Texas Bowl. I’ve heard it’s a great bowl and our guys are looking forward to a great challenge. They understand that Baylor is a football team that will present another great challenge for us, but being able to come to a new area and play in a great venue, I think that’s something that our guys are excited about. It’s a great honor and I know that Illini Nation will flock to Houston.”

Running back Mikel Leshore, who has run for 1,513 yards and 14 touchdowns on the year, including a record-setting 330-yard effort in the win over Northwestern, headlines an Illinois offense that ranks 13th nationally in rushing. Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase has thrown for 1,583 yards and 17 scores and is the second-leading rusher on the team with 815 yards on the ground.

The Texas Bowl has been a tremendous success both on and off the field over its first four years. The bowl has generated an average of $25 million per year for the Houston economy. The event has over 25,000 season ticket holders and sold over 50,000 tickets before its teams were announced last year.

Over its four-year history, the Texas Bowl has donated $300,000 and more than $5 million in promotional support and publicity to DePelchin Children’s Center, the bowl’s official charitable beneficiary.