Puppy Bowl 2021: Date, Starting Lineup, TV Schedule and More

Super Bowl LV isn't the only championship game taking place on Sunday. There will also be Puppy Bowl XVII, which will be a matchup that even those who aren't interested in football may enjoy.

Each year, Animal Planet airs the Puppy Bowl, a three-hour event featuring adoptable dogs from animal shelters and rescues. Per Discovery.com, the show "celebrates adoptable pups in all their cuteness and showcases the incredible shelters and rescues, as well as their staffers, who dedicate their lives to helping animals find their loving homes."

The dogs are split into two teams: Team Fluff and Team Ruff. The winning team receives the Lombarky Trophy. But the real winners are the people who get to watch these dogs run around the gridiron, playing with toys and performing their version of football on Super Bowl Sunday.

Here's everything you need to know about this year's Puppy Bowl.

Puppy Bowl XVII Information

Date: Sunday, Feb. 7

Start Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: Animal Planet

Puppy Bowl XVII Starting Lineups

Team Fluff

Aaron Pawgers: Treeing Walker Coonhound/American Staffordshire Terrier

Ariel: American Staffordshire Terrier/Gordon Terrier

Aubrey: American Staffordshire Terrier/Australian Terrier

Bananaberry: Australian Cattle Dog/Golden Retriever

Beliveau: Golden Retriever

Bingo: American Staffordshire Terrier/Siberian Husky

Chip: American Staffordshire Terrier/German Shepherd

Chunky Monkey: Chow Chow/Irish Red and White Setter

Erica: Border Collie Mix

Foxy Cleopatra: Russell Terrier/Bichon Frise

Fozzie: Norwegian Elkhound Mix

Ginkgo: American Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer

Glimmer: Beagle/Bloodhound

Hank: Dalmatian

Hanson: Mix Breed

James: Labrador Retriever/German Shepherd

Jay: Border Collie/Labrador Retriever

Jett: Labrador Retriever/German Pointer 

Jiffy: American Staffordshire Terrier

Marigold: American Staffordshire Terrier/Border Collie

Marshall: Boston Terrier

Mary Anne: Boxer/American Staffordshire Terrier

Michael: Beagle/Labrador Retriever

Milky Way: American Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer

Minnie: Boston Terrier/Beagle

Moo: American Staffordshire Terrier/Akita

Oliver: Alaskan Malamute/American Staffordshire Terrier

Pacific: Chihuahua/Miniature Pinscher

Pippa: Chihuahua/Tree Walker Coonhound

Ray: American Staffordshire Terrier/Chow Chow

Sasha: American Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer

Sonic: American Staffordshire Terrier/American Bulldog

Theodore: Great Pyrenees/Australian Shepherd

Tony: American Staffordshire Terrier/Australian Shepherd

Tucker: Pug Mix

Yogi: German Shepherd/Siberian Husky

Team Ruff

Apollo: Treeing Walker Coonhound/Beagle

Archer: American Staffordshire Terrier

Argos: Belgian Malinois/American Staffordshire Terrier

Athena: American Staffordshire Terrier/Chow Chow

Bluey: American Staffordshire Terrier/Siberian Husky

Coltrane: Chihuahua/American Staffordshire Terrier

Comet: American Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer

Cosmo: Australian Cattle Dog

Cream: Mix Breed

Duke: Great Pyrenees/Standard Poodle

Dwight: Labrador Retriever/American Staffordshire Terrier

Eclipse: Siberian Husky/Shar-Pei

Fletcher: American Staffordshire Terrier/Beagle

Gizmo: Beagle/Shih Tzu

Gus: Beagle/Cocker Spaniel

Hashbrown: Mix Breed

Hope: Beagle/American Fox Hound

Hunter: American Staffordshire Terrier/Australian Shepherd

Lee: Labrador Retriever/German Shepherd

Lionel: American Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer

Lucy: Beagle/Bluetick Coonhound

Muffin: Terrier Mix

Patrick: American Staffordshire Terrier

Paulie: American Staffordshire Terrier/Dutch Shepherd Dog

Peaches: American Fox Hound

Rumor: American Staffordshire Terrier/Australian Cattle Dog

Spaulding: Hairless Terrier

Stitch: American Staffordshire Terrier/Treeing Walker Coonhound

Tank: Rottweiler/Boxer

Tina: Chihuahua/American Staffordshire Terrier

Todd Furly: American Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer

Vinnie: American Staffordshire Terrier/Dachshund

Xena: American Staffordshire Terrier/Labrador Retriever

A photo gallery of the starting lineups can be found at Discovery.com.

A pair of ESPN broadcasters will provide commentary for this year's Puppy Bowl, with Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer Steve Levy and SportsCenter host Sage Steele being on the call. Dan Schachner will be the "rufferee," while Jill Rappaport will contribute to the coverage.

This year's hosts will be Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, who will also be watching from an "ultimate tailgate party." Stewart will be supporting Team Ruff, while Snoop Dogg will be cheering for Team Fluff.

DJ Grand Master Scratch, a senior rescue cat, will be included in this year's Kitty Halftime Show. And fans can join in on the conversation by tweeting along with Meep the Bird, while also getting an opportunity to vote for the Most Valuable Puppy award.

Last year, Team Fluff won 63-59, avenging its loss from the previous year. The Most Valuable Puppy award went to Gina, a Labrador Retriever/Chow Chow mix.

According to Discovery.com, this year's Puppy Bowl will feature 70 adoptable dogs from 22 shelters and rescues located in nine northeastern states. Team Ruff will be wearing "Tail Mary Tangerine" bandanas, while Team Fluff will don "Bark Blue" bandanas.

"If human sports can happen, then puppy sports can too! There is an entire generation now of 'quarantine pups' who are ready to go from lockdown to TOUCHDOWN with a nation of adoring fans cheering them on," Schachner told Alexandra Hurtado of Parade. "... In human football they win a trophy, in puppy football they win the ultimate prize: a forever home."

For the first time, there will also be "cheerleaders" on the sidelines. These will be additional dogs who will be cheering on the action and supporting those competing.

Over the first 16 editions of the Puppy Bowl, every dog and cat that has been part of the event has gone on to be adopted. And this year, those watching could end up getting to bring home one of the animals they'll see on TV.

There are six special needs dogs competing in this year's Puppy Bowl. That includes Jett, a Labrador Retriever/German Pointer mix who was born without front legs. He uses his back legs and a wheelchair to walk and jump, and he's able to do so without any assistance.

The Puppy Bowl usually takes place in Manhattan, N.Y., but this year's event was filmed at Cool Insuring Arena in Glen Falls, N.Y. due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to Chad Arnold of The Post-Star.