OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The NCAA has certified 19 football bowl games, including the first one to be played on foreign soil.
The third-place finisher in the Pac-10 will play an at-large team in Auckland, New Zealand, in the Haka Bowl on Dec. 26, the NCAA said Wednesday of actions taken by the Special Events Committee at meetings in late April.
Certification by the NCAA means the bowls meet standards of officiating, insurance, distribution of funds and other criteria.
The Pac-10 plans to alternate the conference’s third- and fifth-place finishers between the Haka Bowl and the Sun Bowl.
NCAA institutions may not participate in bowls that are not certified. The certification by Special Events Committee must be ratified by the NCAA Council.