Press release from the league:

IRVING, Texas – Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today that the conference has secured future commitments with seven bowl partners, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, EagleBank Bowl, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl, the St. Petersburg Bowl, along with the new Dallas Football Classic. These partnerships will include games following the 2010-2013 regular seasons and the agreements with seven bowls feature postseason games against seven different conferences. The Conference USA Board of Directors approved these agreements at its November 2, 2009 meeting

“Postseason football is amazing and having the right mix of bowl games is important to every conference,” said Banowsky. “When we began developing our new bowl agreements we wanted three things: great destinations; quality opponents; and, increased revenues. We are very pleased with our line-up for the 2010-2013 seasons and believe it delivers in every way.”

It is important to note that a Conference USA champion may qualify for the Bowl Championship Series if ranked in the BCS final Top 12 or, in the BCS Top 16 and ranked higher than a team which receives automatic qualification.

Since partnering with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in C-USA’s inaugural season in 1996, the conference regular season champion has participated in the Memphis bowl game and posted an 8-6 record against opponents.

The league has partnered with the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas) in all but one year since 2003, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl each year since 2002, the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl six times in eight years and played in the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl last December.

C-USA will continue to face a team from the Mountain West Conference in the Armed Forces Bowl, a Sun Belt Conference team in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, a Western Athletic Conference foe in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl and a Big East squad in the St. Petersburg Bowl.

Conference USA began a partnership with the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C. this season and will continue that in future years, facing an opponent from the ACC in 2010 and 2012.

An addition to the C-USA postseason lineup is the new Dallas Football Classic that will debut after the 2010 season. Subject to NCAA Football Issues Committee approval, this bowl will be played at the historic Cotton Bowl in Dallas and will feature’s C-USA’s first postseason matchup against the Big Ten Conference in 2011 and 2013.