The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced that it has awarded a bowl game to the City of Houston following the 2006 college football season.

Representatives from Lone Star Sports and Entertainment (LSSE) and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, along with the commissioners of the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA and the athletic directors from the University of Houston and Rice University, presented a plan for the game Tuesday at the NCAA Division I championships/competition cabinet meeting in San Diego.

The bowl game will be played at Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

"We are thrilled with this announcement and we are proud to play a role in maintaining a bowl game for Houston," said Jamey Rootes, president of Lone Star Sports and Entertainment. "Our city has a rich football history, and we are looking forward to adding to it with this bowl."

Participating teams will be chosen from the Big 12, Conference USA, Big East, and Mountain West conferences. It is expected that the Big 12 and/or Conference USA will provide at least one team to compete in the game on an annual basis. The game will be played on Thursday, December 28. Specific information regarding conference selection order will be released at a later date.

"We are excited about the future of postseason college football in Houston," said Big 12 Conference commissioner Kevin Weiberg. "The Big 12 has a strong on-going interest in the greater Houston area. It is a dynamic metropolitan area and we believe the bowl game will do well with this restructured arrangement."

A local organizing committee will be created to oversee the planning for the bowl. Lone Star Sports and Entertainment will serve as the local producer of the event and will coordinate marketing, broadcasting, sponsorship, public relations, and other key activities for the event.

A name and identity package is now being developed for the bowl, and it will be announced at a later date. LSSE is also finalizing the details of the bowl's television package and game entitlement, and will announce those details soon.