Super Bowl LVIII takes place this Sunday, Feb. 11, in Las Vegas, but as Kelly Clarkson reminds her audience in a recent episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," there's another important event happening this weekend as well. That event is the 20th Annual Puppy Bowl.
Before the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, two teams of shelter puppies — Team Ruff and Team Fluff — will go head to head in the Puppy Bowl. Clarkson invited Puppy Bowl referee Dan Schachner to the stage of her talk show, and he brought two adorable contenders, Squall and Nor'easter. The singer/talk show host understandably melted as Schachner handed her Squall — an adorable white puppy with a brown marking on one eye — as they chatted about the competition.
Schachner told Clarkson this is the "biggest year" of the Puppy Bowl with 131 shelter puppies from across the country participating. The goal of the Puppy Bowl is to raise awareness for pet adoptions, and each of the puppies participating in the game will be adopted afterwards. The game can get pretty competitive too, as Schachner recalls that it went into overtime, or Rovertime, last year.
Fans can preview this year's Puppy Bowl roster online. The teams include Bark Purdy (named after the 49ers' Brock Purdy), Patrick Mabones (named after the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes) and Guy Fureri, among others.
This year's Puppy Bowl is partnering with Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization, to help the puppies find homes. Puppy Bowl XX airs Sunday, February 11 at 2 p.m. ET on Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, TruTV and streaming on Max.
