2012 Military Bowl Preview

Date: December 27, 2012 3:00 PM ET
Stadium: RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Payout: $1,000,000 per team
Played: 2008-present
Former Names: EagleBank Bowl (2008-2009)
Broadcasters: Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell
Sideline Reporter: Quint Kessenich

San Jose State: San Jose State has won 10 games for the first time since the 1987 season. The Spartans are making just their second bowl appearance since the 1990 California Raisin Bowl. Quarterback David Fales has passed for 3,798 yards. Wide receivers Noel Grisby and Chandler Jones caught 19 of Fales' 31 touchdown passes. San Jose State has a chance to win 11 games, which would be a new school record for wins in a season.   

Bowling Green: The Falcons possess a talented defense that allowed only 15.8 points per game, the top defense in the Mid-America Conference. Coach Dave Clawson's team is equally efficient against the pass and rush, surrendering 173.0 passing yards per game and 116.7 rushing yards per game. The linebacker corp of Martin, Woods, and Swan is arguably one of the best trios in the nation.

	San Jose State			Bowling Green
Overall Record	10-2		Overall Record	8-4
Conference Record	5-1		Conference Record	6-2
Bowl Record	5-3		Bowl Record	4-4
Last Bowl Win	2006 New Mexico		Last Bowl Win	2004 GMAC

All Time Series: 0-0
Line: San Jose State by 7.5

FBS Attendance

An institution classified in Football Bowl Subdivision shall meet all the Division I membership

requirements set forth in NCAA Division I Bylaws 20.9.1 through 20.9.5 and in addition, shall:

1. Sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity intercollegiate sports, including football, based on the

minimum sports sponsorship and scheduling requirements set forth in Bylaw 20.

Sponsorship shall include a minimum six sports involving all male teams or mixed teams

(males and females), and a minimum of eight varsity intercollegiate teams involving all

female teams. Institutions may use up to two emerging sports to satisfy the required eight

varsity intercollegiate sports involving all female teams. [Bylaw 20.9.7.1]

2. Schedule and play at least 60 percent of its football contests against members of Football

Bowl Subdivision. Institutions shall schedule and play at least five regular season home

contests against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. [Bylaw 20.9.7.2]

3. Average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football contests over a

rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.3]

4. Provide an average of at least 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of overall

football grants-in-aid per year over a rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(a)]

5. Annually offer a minimum of 200 athletics grants-in-aid or expend at least four million

dollars on grants-in-aid to student-athletes in athletics programs. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(b)]

This means that the home game attendance at any given FBS school from any two consecutive years should average at least 15,000 fans. Six MAC programs, two WAC programs, and two Sun Belt programs have failed to meet the home attendance requirement over the past two seasons.

School	2009	2010	Average
San Jose State	14,474	15,344	14,909
Buffalo	12,981	15,960	14,471
Western Kentucky	14,577	14,103	14,340
Akron	10,185	17,382	13,784
Bowling Green	13,306	14,044	13,675
Miami (OH)	15,519	11,810	13,665
Florida International	16,545	10,204	13,375
Idaho	12,730	12,546	12,638
Eastern Michigan	15,885	5,016	10,451
Ball State	8,947	10,888	9,918

Over the 2009-2010 rolling period, ten teams failed to meet the attendance requirement. Over the 2008-2009 rolling period, six teams failed to meet the attendance requirement. The economy is definitely not getting better. Interestingly, five schools--Bowling Green, Miami (OH), Florida International, Idaho, and Eastern Michigan--have failed to meet NCAA bylaw 20.9.7.3 over the 2008-2009 rolling period and the 2009-2010 rolling period. Miami (OH) and Florida International both won bowl games this past season and should draw a bit better next year.

Should more FCS teams be allowed to move up into the Football Bowl Subdivision when 1/12 of the existing teams in the FBS cannot even meet the FBS attendance requirement? It appears the NCAA does not enforce this rule, which makes some sense: demoting schools would cause even more conference chaos and it is demoralizing for an FBS program to be demoted to the Football Championship Division. But still, rules are rules, and it's seen as favoritism when some rules are strictly enforced by NCAA and others are ignored.

Reference

MAC Home Attendance Figures

	Akron			Ball State
InfoCision Stadium			Scheumann Stadium
S4 Syracuse	15,969		S2 SE Missouri State	10,753
S11 Gardner-Webb	10,046		S11 Liberty	9,110
O2 Northern Illinois	12,133		O9 Western Michigan	11,963
O23 Western Michigan	10,073		O16 Eastern Michigan	10,956
N17 Miami (OH)	7,671		N6 Akron	5,377
N26 Buffalo	5,216		N20 Northern Illinois	5,524
AVERAGE	10,185		AVERAGE	8,947
	Bowling Green			Buffalo
Perry Stadium			UB Stadium
S18 Marshall	20,515		S2 Rhode Island	16,273
O2 Buffalo	14,544		S18 UCF	14,312
O23 Kent State	14,279		O23 Temple	13,371
N10 Miami (OH)	12,073		O30 Miami (OH)	12,786
N26 Western Michigan	5,121		N12 Ball State	11,355
			N20 Eastern Michigan	9,786
AVERAGE	13,306		AVERAGE	12,981
	Central Michigan			Eastern Michigan
Kelly/Shorts Stadium			Rynearson Stadium
S2 Hampton	17,311		S4 Army	11,318
O2 Ball State	20,152		S18 Central Michigan	20,348
O16 Miami (OH)	24,761		O2 Ohio	16,753
O30 Bowling Green	17,659		O30 Toledo	25,860
N5 Western Michigan	22,355		N26 Northern Illinois	5,147
AVERAGE	20,448		AVERAGE	15,885
	Kent State			Miami (OH)
Dix Stadium			Yager Stadium
S2 Murray State	16,535		S11 Eastern Michigan	12,857
O9 Akron	24,221		S18 Colorado State	16,691
O30 Ball State	15,468		O2 Kent State	17,666
N6 Temple	15,125		O23 Ohio	17,144
N13 Army	17,222		N23 Temple	13,235
N26 Ohio	8,340
AVERAGE	16,152		AVERAGE	15,519
	Northern Illinois			Ohio
Huskie Stadium			Peden Stadium
S11 North Dakota	18,046		S4 Wofford	22,955
O9 Temple	14,011		S11 Toledo	19,455
O16 Buffalo	21,230		O9 Bowling Green	19,855
O23 Central Michigan	17,042		O16 Akron	21,645
N9 Toledo	18,472		O30 UL-Lafayette	15,255
			N4 Buffalo	15,112
AVERAGE	17,760		AVERAGE	19,046
	Temple			Toledo
Lincoln Financial Field			Glass Bowl
S3 Villanova	32,193		S3 Arizona	25,907
S9 Central Mcihigan	15,152		O2 Wyoming	20,843
S18 Connecticut	18,702		O16 Kent State	20,048
O16 Bowling Green	23,045		O23 Ball State	15,010
O30 Akron	17,563		N17 Bowling Green	22,071
N16 Ohio	16,433		N26 Central Michigan	12,121
AVERAGE	20,515		AVERAGE	19,333
	Western Michigan
Waldo Stadium
S11 Nicholls State	19,327
S18 Toledo	14,216
O2 Idaho	18,508
O30 Northern Illinois	12,578
N13 Eastern Michigan	12,136
N20 Kent State	8,763
AVERAGE	14,255

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Temple	20,515
Central Michigan	20,448
Toledo	19,333
Ohio	19,046
Northern Illinois	17,760
Kent State	16,152
Eastern Michigan	15,885
Miami (OH)	15,519
Western Michigan	14,255
Bowling Green	13,306
Buffalo	12,981
Akron	10,185
Ball State	8,947