For the first time since 1997, the final game was played at a new location—Pizza Hut Park in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.

[1] Every title game since 1997 had been held at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but the NCAA opened the hosting rights for the 2010–2012 championship games for bids during the 2009 season, as the hosting contract between the NCAA and the Chattanooga organizers was set to expire.

The championship tournament expanded from 16 teams to 20, with the Big South and Northeast Conference earning automatic bids for the first time.

According to early reports, the championship game would be played sometime between December 29 and January 7,[3] with the latter date ultimately chosen.

January 7Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas On September 1, 2010, Drake University announced it would participate in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, the first American football game played on the continent of Africa.