The first bowl game of the year will be… not the New Orleans Bowl. Instead the bowl, which lost its title sponsor after moving the game to Lafayette last season, will be played on Friday, December 22nd. The GMAC Bowl will now be the first bowl game of the year (December 20th).

“It was nice being the first bowl, but it’s more important to grow the event in New Orleans,” said bowl executive director Billy Ferrante, who worked out the new date with ESPN, which will televise the game. “This benefits the hospitality community because people are more inclined to travel toward the end of the week.”

The New Orleans Bowl will likely escape NCAA death knell because moving the game following last season’s hurricane may have impacted attendance. Bowl games must maintain a 25,000 paid attendance average or face re-certification.

New Orleans Bowl officials are also hopeful that the new dates will help the game find a new title sponsor.

“We have a financial model in place that allows us to operate without one,” he said. “But having a sponsor allows us to put some finer touches on the game and eventually take it to a different level.”

With the addition of a fifth BCS bowl game for this season, Bowl Championship Series officials announced a slight easing of the at-large qualification requirements:

- Instead of having to finish in the top 12 of the final BCS standings, teams finishing in the top 14 will now be eligible for a BCS game.

- Any Division I-A team is eligible for at-large consideration.

- Automatic qualifiers:

- No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final BCS standings
- Big East, Big Ten, SEC, Pac10, Big 12 and ACC champions
- Notre Dame (if it finishes in the top eight)
- a non-BCS team that finishes in the top 12, or in the top 16 if they’re ahead of a BCS champion

Here’s the complete list of Associated Press (AP) college football poll votors for 2005:

Paul Arnett, Honolulu Star-Buletin
Steve Batterson, Quad City (Iowa) Times
Beau Bishop, WCTV-TV, Tallahassee, Fla.
John Blanchette, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Jack Bogaczyk, Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail
Kirk Bohls, Austin (Texas) American Statesman
Rick Bozich, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News, Denver
Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram
Jim Carty, The Ann Arbor (Mich.) News
Barker Davis, The Washington Times
Mike DiRocco, Florida Times Union
Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle
Gregg Ellis, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, Miss.
Aaron Fentress, The Oregonian, Portland
Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Chris Fowler, ESPN
Joe Giglio, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Joey Goodman, The Lawton (Okla.) Constitution
Herb Gould, Chicago Sun-Times
Jeff Gravely, WRAL-TV, Raleigh, N.C.
Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News
Bob Hammond, Laramie (Wyo.) Boomerang
Todd Harmonson, The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif.
Doug Harris, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News
Shawn Harrison, Logan (Utah) Herald Tribune
Joseph Hawk, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Kirk Herbstreit, WBNS-AM Columbus, Ohio & ESPN
Bob Holt, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock
Jimmy Hyams, WNML AM-FM, Knoxville, Tenn.
Craig James, ABC
Rich Kaipust, Omaha (Neb.) World-Record
Aditi Kinkhabwala, The Record, Bergen County, N.J.
George Lehner, WTVN-AM, Columbus, Ohio
Iliana Limon, Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal
Stewart Mandel, SI.com
Dan McDonald, Lafayette (La.) Advertiser
Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald
John Moredich, Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen
Tom Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison
John Niyo, Detroit News
Neill Ostrout, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport
Jeff Parson, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle
David Paschall, Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press
Joe Person, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Michael Pointer, The Indianapolis Star
Mike Prater, The Idaho Statesman, Boise
Scott Rabalais, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
Mike Radano, Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, N.J.
Dave Rahme, The Post-Standard, Syracuse, N.Y.
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle
Doug Segrest, The Birmingham (Ala.) News
John Shipley, St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press
Jay Tate, Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser
John Tautges, Westwood One Radio
David Teel, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
Jimmy Tramel, Tulsa (Okla.) World
Mark Tupper, Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review Bee
Ken Tysiac, Charlotte (N.C.) Observer
Adan Van Brimmer, Savannah (Ga.) Morning News-Augusta
Mike Vega, The Boston Globe
Graham Watson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Jon Wilner, San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News
Doug Wilson, Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times
Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News