2012 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl Preview

Date: December 27, 2012 9:45 PM ET
Stadium: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
Payout: $2,075,000 per team
Played: 1978-present
Former Names: N/A
Broadcasters: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese
Sideline Reporter: Jenn Brown

Baylor: Baylor is averaging 44.1 points per game and leads the nation in total yards per game. Quarterback Nick Florence has passed for 4,121 yards and 31 touchdowns while rushing for 531 yards and nine scores. The Bears were the only team to beat Kansas State this season. Baylor's defense is giving up 38.2 points per game. They'll have to outscore the Bruins to move their all-time bowl record above the .500 mark.

UCLA: One of UCLA's strengths on defense is ironically its most glaring weakness on offense. The Bruins' 44 sacks are fourth-most in the nation, but its 46 sacks allowed are the third-most. Jim Mora has made major progress at UCLA in his first season, but a win in San Diego is needed to avoid the program's third consecutive 0-3 finish after a 9-2 start to the season.

	Baylor			UCLA
Overall Record	7-5		Overall Record	9-4
Conference Record	4-5		Conference Record	6-3
Bowl Record	9-9		Bowl Record	14-16-1
Last Bowl Win	2011 Alamo		Last Bowl Win	2009 EagleBank

All Time Series: 0-0
Line: UCLA by 3

2011 Valero Alamo Bowl Preview

Date: December 29, 2011 9:00 PM ET

Stadium: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Payout: $3,175,000

Played: 1993-present

Former Names: N/A

Broadcasters: Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman

Sideline Reporter: Quint Kessenich

All Time Series: 3-1 Baylor

Line: Baylor by 9.5

	Baylor			Washington
Overall Record	9-3		Overall Record	7-5
Conference Record	6-3		Conference Record	5-4
Bowl Record	8-9		Bowl Record	15-14-1
Last Bowl Win	1992 Sun		Last Bowl Win	2010 Holiday

Texas A&M Officially Joins The SEC

Texas A&M officially joined the Southeastern Conference yesterday. The Aggies will begin playing in the SEC in the fall of 2012. It is unclear whether Baylor or other Big 12 schools will file litigation against Texas A&M as reported over the past few weeks. Starting next season, the Aggie will be in a different conference from their rivals Texas and Baylor for the first time in the football programs long, storied history. It is likely the Thanksgiving night rivalry game between the Aggies and the Longhorns will become a thing of the past.

Now the SEC will be unbalanced at 13 teams. I would assume they will be out to poach a 14th team to balance the divisions. Missouri  would seem to be the best match for the SEC, but it seems like the nine remaining members of the Big 12 are adamant on staying together. A six-year television rights agreement has been set with the remaining nine schools. If one of the Big 12 schools leave the conference within the next six years, all of their primetime television revenue would still go to the Big 12. It looks like the Big 12 will add anywhere from one to three teams to make itself more relevant nationally again.

Helmet Stickers: Week 1

ACC—Maryland laid waste to Miami on Monday night in fashion, sporting new uniforms based off of the Maryland state flag. Maryland took a 26-24 lead with 1:39 left in the game via a field goal. With Miami driving, Maryland defensive back Cameron Chism picked off Miami’s Stephen Morris on fourth down and ran 54 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach with less than forty ticks left on the clock. Maryland sophomore quarterback Danny O’Brien passed for 348 yards. Maryland avenged its 20-26 loss to the Hurricanes last year. Terrapin football is back.

Big 10—Northwestern picked up a quality win over Boston College Saturday in their opener. With Dan Persa still injured from a ruptured Achilles tendon, sophomore quarterback Kain Colter stepped up and played well. Colter completed 70.8% of passes on 24 attempts. The Eagles drove into the red zone looking to tie the game at 24 in the final minutes of the game, but senior defensive lineman Vince Browne came up with a sack on the final play to end the game.

Big 12—The Baylor Bears got the best of last year’s Rose Bowl winner in a shootout. TCU’s streak of 25-straight regular-season victories came to an end as the Bears beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2004. A field goal from Aaron Jones with 1:04 left in the game sealed the 50-48 win after the Horned Frogs came roaring back scoring 25 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a 48-47 lead. Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III was phenomenal, passing for 359 yards and five touchdowns. After one week of play, Robert Griffin III looks to be a legitimate Heisman candidate.

Big East—South Florida upset No. 16 Notre Dame in South Bend in a game that had two rain delays. The South Florida defense forced two fumbles and made three interceptions to win the turnover battle 5-0. USF cornerback Kayvon Webster recovered a Notre Dame fumble and ran 96 yards for a touchdown to set the tone of the game just four minutes in. Despite gaining half the yardage that Notre Dame did, the Bulls played smarter football, exploiting the Irish’s mistakes and weaknesses.

C-USA—Case Keenum started his sixth season on the Houston Cougars with a quality 38-34 win over UCLA. Keenum threw for 310 yards, and wide out Tyron Carrier had 10 grabs for 138 yards. Houston’s victory avenges a loss last season to the Bruins and has moved Kevin Sumlin’s stock up as Rick Neuheisel’s stock drops.

MAC—In a game featuring the debuts of two new head coaches, Ball State came out on top of Indiana 27-20 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Cardinals quarterback Keith Wenning was efficient, going 23 for 29 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Ball State rushed for 210 yards and controlled the rock for the majority of the second half. Ball State punter Scott Kovanda averaged 44.3 yards on three punts. The Cardinals have won their last two meetings against the Hoosiers.

MWC—The Broncos defeated Georgia 35-21 in Atlanta Saturday night. Boise State has taken down yet another BCS conference school and got its first victory over a SEC school. Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore went 28 for 34 passing, connecting with nine different targets. No. 5 Boise State looks to off to another great season and another BCS bowl game.

Pac-12—California picked up a solid win over Fresno State. It was the first time Cal beat Fresno State in three meetings. Cal quarterback Zach Maynard and wide receiver Keenan Allen are half-brothers. They connected for 112 yards through the air. The Golden Bears defense picked up 4 sacks. Despite 11 penalties, the Golden Bears were 7 yards short of doubling the Bulldogs’ modest 210 yards of total offense.

SEC— Two top 5 teams faced off on the opening weekend of college football, and LSU came out the winner over a stacked Oregon team 40-27. With starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson suspended because of a preseason brawl, backup Jarrett Lee did enough to lead the Tigers to victory. Oregon turned the ball over four times and the Tigers took advantage of the breaks, converting three Oregon fumbles into three touchdowns. LSU’s running backs Spencer Ware and Michael Ford outplayed Oregon’s star-studded tailbacks. LSU has won 34 straight nonconference games, the longest such streak in the nation.

Sun Belt—The Golden Panthers went to 1-0 in Sun Belt play after beating North Texas in their opener. FIU scored 28 points in the first quarter, a record for the program. Senior wide receiver had 283 all-purpose yards from receptions, rushes, punt returns, and kickoffs. Running backs Dariet Perry and Kedrick Rhodes each ran for two touchdowns. The Golden Panthers look to be a contender for the Sun Belt title.

WAC—Hawaii was the only WAC team to win in Week 1. The Warriors ran over Colorado 34-17 behind good quarterback play from senior signal-caller Bryant Moniz. Moniz, known as a passing quarterback, unleashed another dimension to his game by running for 121 yards in the opener, more yards than he rushed for all of last season. Hawaii cornerback Mike Edwards averaged 35.5 yards on two kickoff returns. Hawaii is the frontrunner to win the WAC this season.

Independents—In its first game since leaving the Mountain West Conference, BYU defeated Ole Miss in a close game by a score of 14-13. The Cougars trailed by a score of 0-13 in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Ross Apo pulled in a touchdown catch with 9:52 left. With 5:09 left the Cougars defense forced Ole Miss’s quarterback to fumble, and linebacker Kyle Van Noy jumped on top of the ball in the end zone to give BYU a one point lead and the eventual win.

2010 Texas Bowl Preview

December 29, 2010 6:00 PM ET

Stadium: Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas

Payout: $612,500

Played: 2006-present

Once known as: N/A

Broadcasters: Dave Pasch, Bob Griese, Chris Spielman

Sideline Reporter: Holly Rowe

Storyline: Illinois makes its first bowl appearance since losing the 2008 Rose Bowl. The Illini have not won a bowl game since 1999. Illinois is led by tailback Mikel Leshoure who tallied 1,513 yards during twelve games. Ron Zook’s job may be in jeopardy with the outcome of this game. Zook will have his fifth losing season in five years and be 0-2 in bowls should the Illini not be able to stop Baylor’s balanced attack. Baylor is led by dual-threat quarterback Robert Griffin III. Griffin passed for 3,195 yards and rushed for 591 yards. The rushing load is split with running back Jay Finley who has ran for 1,155 yards this season. Illinois is heavily reliant on the run; Baylor's lackluster run defense needs to step up. Baylor is appearing in its first bowl game since 1996. A win over Illinois can put Baylor football back on the map with its first postseason victory since the 1992 Sun Bowl. Baylor and Illinois have only met once before: a Baylor 34-19 win in 1976.

All-time Series: 1-0 Baylor

Line: Pick

	Illinois			Baylor
Overall Record	6-6		Overall Record	7-5
Conference Record	4-4		Conference Record	4-4
Bowl Record	6-8		Bowl Record	8-8
Last Bowl Win	1999 MicronPC.com		Last Bowl Win	1992 Sun

Big 12 Home Attendance Figures

	Baylor			Colorado
Floyd Casey Stadium			Folsom Field
S4 Sam Houston State	42,821		S18 Hawaii	47,840
S11 Buffalo	40,853		O2 Georgia	52,855
O2 Kansas	35,405		O16 Baylor	48,953
O23 Kansas State	40,057		O23 Texas Tech	47,665
N13 Texas A&M	45,089		N13 Iowa State	42,722
N20 Oklahoma	36,034		N20 Kansas State	41,147
AVERAGE	40,043		AVERAGE	46,864
	Iowa State			Kansas
Jack Trice Stadium			Memorial Stadium
S2 Northern Illinois	43,116		S4 North Dakota State	48,417
S25 Northern Iowa	48,874		S11 Georgia Tech	46,907
O2 Texas Tech	43,162		S25 New Mexico State	46,719
O9 Utah	43,195		O14 Kansas State	47,561
O30 Kansas	46,485		O23 Texas A&M	44,239
N6 Nebraska	51,159		N6 Colorado	40,851
N20 Missouri	41,776		N20 Oklahoma State	39,261
AVERAGE	45,395		AVERAGE	44,851
	Kansas State			Missouri
Bill Snyder Stadium			Faurot Field
S4 UCLA	51,059		S11 McNeese State	55,582
S11 Missouri State	48,672		S18 San Diego State	56,050
S25 UCF	50,586		S25 Miami (OH)	60,329
O7 Nebraska	51,015		O9 Colorado	62,965
O30 Oklahoma State	50,831		O23 Oklahoma	71,004
N6 Texas	46,734		N13 Kansas State	63,310
AVERAGE	49,816		AVERAGE	61,540
	Nebraska			Oklahoma
Memorial Stadium			Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
S4 Western Kentucky	85,555		S4 Utah State	85,151
S11 Idaho	85,732		S11 Florida State	85,630
S25 South Dakota State	85,573		S18 Air Force	84,332
O16 Texas	85,648		O16 Iowa State	84,024
O30 Missouri	85,907		O30 Colorado	84,173
N13 Kansas	85,587		N13 Texas Tech	85,116
N26 Colorado	85,646
AVERAGE	85,664		AVERAGE	84,738
	Oklahoma State			Texas
Boone Pickens Stadium			Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
S4 Washington State	48,692		S11 Wyoming	101,339
S11 Troy	48,820		S25 UCLA	101,437
S18 Tulsa	51,778		O23 Iowa State	100,142
S30 Texas A&M	48,284		O30 Baylor	100,452
O23 Nebraska	55,935		N13 Oklahoma State	100,659
N6 Baylor	50,741		N20 Florida Atlantic	99,799
N27 Oklahoma	51,164		N25 Texas A&M	100,752
AVERAGE	50,773		AVERAGE	100,654
	Texas A&M			Texas Tech
Kyle Field			Jones AT&T Stadium
S4 Stephen F. Austin	81,287		S5 SMU	57,528
S11 Louisiana Tech	77,579		S18 Texas	60,454
S18 FIU	79,069		O16 Oklahoma State	60,454
O16 Missouri	83,453		N6 Missouri	55,667
O30 Texas Tech	84,479		N20 Weber State	55,083
N6 Oklahoma	81,392		N27 Houston	53,461
N20 Nebraska	90,079
AVERAGE	82,477		AVERAGE	57,108

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Texas	100,654
Nebraska	85,664
Oklahoma	84,738
Texas A&M	82,477
Missouri	61,540
Texas Tech	57,108
Oklahoma State	50,773
Kansas State	49,816
Colorado	46,864
Iowa State	45,395
Kansas	44,851
Baylor	40,043