While the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rings in the New Year for college football fans, Taco Bell will be ringing its value bell all across America with yesterday's introduction today of its “Touchdown $5 Buck Box.” The college football-themed box, which includes marks from ESPN and each of the five BCS Bowl Games, is part of the brand’s activation to support its ESPN and BCS marketing agreement.

The Touchdown $5 Buck Box includes five menu items in a special BCS/ESPN football field-themed package and features the all-new Beefy Crunch Burrito. Created in conjunction with ESPN and the BCS, the Touchdown $5 Buck Box features tune-in messages for the Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Discover Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, and Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. The box can be converted into a mini finger flick football field–the taco wrapper folding into a football, the yard and hash-markers set on a green field with BCS Bowl logos–giving consumers the chance to play out the BCS National Championship in advance of the actual game in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 10, 2011.

“At Taco Bell, we're huge college football fans, and as fans get ready for the culmination of a great season, we’re prepared to tackle their hunger," says David Ovens, chief marketing officer of Taco Bell Corp.

Available at participating Taco Bell locations, the Touchdown $5 Buck Box comes in two varieties:

• Beefy Crunch Burrito Box: Includes the Beefy Crunch Burrito, Crunchwrap Supreme, Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists, and medium drink.
• Volcano Box: Includes the Volcano Beef Burrito, Volcano Taco, Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists, and medium drink.

Taco Bell has been an official partner of the BCS since 2007. The marketing agreement with ESPN includes a variety of activations leading up to and at the Tostitos BCS Championship Game and other BCS Bowl Games. ESPN will feature Taco Bell in its first ever “virtual billboard” on SportsCenter this week. Additionally, ESPN will show Taco Bell integrated features on College GameDay prior to the Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO and on the pre-game show for the Discover Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Tostitos BCS National Championship.

At the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Tostitos BCS Championship Game, Taco Bell’s Touchdown $5 Buck Box activation will stage outside the stadium a QB Scramble, a skills and drills competition where fans will duck and claw their way through several obstacles while protecting the football until they have to make a final touchdown pass and dive into the end zone. At the other BCS Bowls, Taco Bell will have an obstacle course and arm chair quarterback challenge. Every BCS Bowl Tailgate will feature free Taco Bell crunchy tacos during designated times, while supplies last.