Details on the 9th Annual Puppy Bowl

Puppy Bowl IX Puppies
Puppies playing on the field - Photo by Keith Barraclough / Courtesy of Animal Planet

The best part of this year’s big bowl games won’t be the fact neither Manning made it or that the Super Bowl will be Tom Brady-less. No, the best part is that Puppy Bowl IX has added hedgehog cheerleaders to the overwhelmingly cute madness.

According to Animal Planet, viewers can expect to see hedgehogs on the sidelines, and, as an added bonus, Meep the Bird will be back live tweeting the game at @MeepTheBird. And new puppy cam angles will allow viewers to get up-close views of the puppies in action. Viewers will also be treated to the return of the water bowl cam, kiss cam, and an aerial view of all the action on the gridiron.

Plus, a special camera will “slow down every lovable frame of adorable action on the field while substitute players submerge their paws and rest their rumps in a special puppy hot tub, providing never-before-seen views of underwater puppy aquatics.”

All of the 63 puppy players, each from a shelter or rescue organization, will be competing for the BISSELL®MVP (Most Valuable Puppy) title, and they’ll have to play nice in order to be eligible to win the coveted award.

Commenting on this year’s big game, referee Dan Schachner said, “The puppy players viewed me more as fresh meat than a ref last year. It took a few hard-hitting plays for them to realize their overwhelming cuteness and basset hound eyes wouldn’t affect my judgment to fairly officiate this game.”

Puppies in this year’s starting lineup represent the Wayside Waifs Animal Rescue (Missouri), spcaLA (California), Tails of Love Animal Rescue (New York), Pitter Patter Animal Rescue (Wisconsin) and Big Fluffy Dog Rescue (Massachusetts).

The 2013 Puppy Bowl will also feature the BISSELL® KITTY HALF-TIME SHOW. Puppy Bowl IX will air on Sunday, February 3, from 3-5 PM (ET/PT) on Animal Planet.

A look back at Puppy Bowl VIII: