DALLAS (FWAA) – The FedEx Orange Bowl, host of the 2005 Bowl Championship Series title game, will sponsor the Football Writers Association of America's National Team of the Week award this season.

The FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week will be announced each Monday of the college football season through Nov. 29. The team of the week is selected by the 16 pollsters in the FWAA's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll. The weekly honor, given to a team that produces each week's best performance, was introduced in conjunction with the FWAA's national poll for the 2002 college football season.

"We are excited to be a part of the FWAA's National Team of the Week, said Orange Bowl Committee President Christopher E. Knight. "The Orange Bowl Committee has had a long and illustrious relationship with college football over the past 70 years and with this being a National Championship year for South Florida nothing pleases us more to recognize the nation's best week to week."

Founded in 1935, the FedEx Orange Bowl will match the two top-ranked teams in the BCS standings this season. It will be played at Miami's Pro Player Stadium on Jan. 4, 2005.

"To be associated with the Football Writers Association of America in honoring the college football National Team of the Week throughout the 2004 season will only enhance the Road to the FedEx Orange Bowl 2005 National Championship," said Orange Bowl Committee Chief Executive Officer Keith R. Tribble.

The 26 teams of the week through the first two seasons of the award's history have represented seven different conferences. Three schools – California, Florida and Miami – have been two-time winners. Miami won the award twice in 2003.

For more information about the FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week, go to www.footballwriters.com or www.orangebowl.org.