2013 Discover Orange Bowl Preview

Date: January 1, 2013 8:30 PM ET
Stadium: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida
Payout: $17,000,000 per team
Played: 1935-present
Former Names: N/A
Broadcasters: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen
Sideline Reporter: Maria Taylor

Northern Illinois: The Huskies go to their fifth bowl game in as many years as they finish the season ranked No. 15 in the BCS allowing them to go to a BCS bowl game, despite criticism from the media and many fanbases that Northern Illinois does not belong. Quarterback Jordan Lynch threw for 2,962 yards and rushed for another 1,771 yards. Northern Illinois looks to upset the Seminoles and prove they can roll with the big dogs.

Florida State: The well-balanced Seminoles are equally talented on both sides of the ball, contributing to an average margin of victory of 24.8 points per game, the third-best margin in the FBS. The Seminoles have the 7th most effective scoring defense in the land and the 13th scoring offense. Head coach Jimbo Fisher is 2-0 in bowl games at Florida State. The Seminoles have lost their past 3 Orange Bowl appearances: 2001, 2004, 2006.

	Northern Illinois			Florida State
Overall Record	12-1		Overall Record	11-2
Conference Record	8-0		Conference Record	7-1
Bowl Record	4-3		Bowl Record	24-14-2
Last Bowl Win	2012 GoDaddy.com		Last Bowl Win	2011 Champs Sports

All Time Series: 0-0
Line: Florida State by 13.5

Penn State Players Transferring

Seniors
Justin Brown (Starting Wide Receiver) to Oklahoma
Devon Smith (Starting Wide Receiver) to Marshall

Juniors
Robert Bolden (Backup Quarterback) to LSU
Khairi Fortt (Backup Linebacker) to California
Kevin Haplea (Backup Tight End) To Florida State
Silas Redd (Starting Running Back) to USC

RS Juniors
Anthony Fera (Starting Kicker and Punter) to Texas
Derrick Thomas (Backup Cornerback) to Marshall

RS Freshmen
Tim Buckley (Backup Safety) to North Carolina State
Ryan Nowicki (Backup Offensive Tackle) to Illinois

Freshmen
Jamil Pollard (Defensive Tackle) to Rutgers

2012 Schedules

Here are some interesting observations about schedules in the 2012 season:

• 22 teams have ONLY FBS opponents on their schedules
• No SEC or ACC schools are among the twenty-two teams to play this type of schedule
• Five are from Conference USA
• Four are from the Big Ten
• 97 teams have ONE game against an FCS opponents on their schedules
• 4 teams have TWO games against FCS opponents on their schedules
• Florida State
• Cincinnati
• Pittsburgh
• Texas A&M
• 1 team plays TWO FCS opponents and TWO Division 2 opponents
• UT-San Antonio, which was rushed up to the FBS level to save the WAC
• 3 teams play a 13-game regular season
• New Mexico
• UNLV
• South Alabama
• The NCAA allows teams that play Hawaii on the road to play a 13-game schedule if they chose. The extra game helps generate revenue for the school to offset the expensive travel costs of flying a team to Hawaii. Hawaii is also allowed to play a 13-game schedule every year if it chooses. Hawaii will only play 12 games in 2012.
• Only one win over a FCS program counts towards bowl eligibility. Beating two FCS programs in a season gives a FBS school no advantage in getting to bowl eligibility. In fact in might make bowl eligibility tougher since they can only lose to 5 FBS teams, opposed to 6 FBS teams if they had played one or no FCS cupcakes.

2011 Champs Sports Bowl Preview

Date: December 29, 2011 5:30 PM ET

Stadium: Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida

Payout: $2,325,000

Played: 1990-present

Former Names: Blockbuster Bowl (1990-1993), Carquest Bowl (1994-1997), MicronPC Bowl (1998), MicronPC.com Bowl (1999-2000), Tangerine Bowl (2001-2003)

Broadcasters: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore

Sideline Reporter: Holly Rowe

All Time Series: 4-2 Florida State

Line: Florida State by 3.5

	Florida State			Notre Dame
Overall Record	8-4		Overall Record	8-4
Conference Record	5-3		Conference Record	N/A
Bowl Record	23-14-2		Bowl Record	15-15
Last Bowl Win	2010 Chick-fil-A		Last Bowl Win	2010 Sun

All Hell Could Break Loose This Week

If Texas A&M heads to the Southeastern Conference next week, the conference shuffle will start all over again.

Likely, the SEC would want to get a fourteenth team for the sake of balance. It will likely go after Florida State or Clemson from the ACC, or Missouri from the Big 12. Right now, Mizzou says it is committed to staying in the Big 12. Other sexy additions could be Louisville, Georgia Tech, or Virginia Tech. Any of these teams would geographically be a good fit for the SEC.

To replace the Aggies, the Big 12 would likely go after Houston, Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, or BYU. As long as Texas and Oklahoma stick together, the conference could probably survive in some form.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 could expand as well, but that won't likely happen unless it becomes apparent alot of dominoes start falling and these conferences need to go on the defense to stay competitive with a superconference consisting of either fourteen or sixteen teams.

The Big East and ACC sit in a precarious position. Both could get poached from. They are both seen as more of basketball conferences rather than football conferences. Keep in mind that college football generates more money than college basketball. The Big East needs to get on with expanding to ten teams if it wants to ensure its survival. Moving Villanova's football program up from the FCS to the FBS would require a much larger stadium than Villanova Stadium, and it looks like the Wildcats either don't have the space and/or money to expand their miniscule 12,500-seat stadium. Using Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Eagles play, for home games is not an option; Temple uses this stadium as its home field.

Most Returning Starters

Teams with the most returning starters for the 2011 season.

Vanderbilt 18
The Commodores will have all but one offensive starter returning and eight starters coming back on defense. Things are looking good for James Franklin's first year as head coach.

Texas A&M 18
With key players back like Ryan Tannehill and Cyrus Gray on offense and the entire seconday coming back, will this be the Aggies year to win the Big 12 title for the first time since 1998?

Southern Methodist 18
The Mustangs have won the C-USA West the last two seasons, but with almost the entire offense coming back, 2011 could be the year SMU wins its first league championship since the Death Penalty.

Florida State 17
Combine the fact that Florida State is returning 17 starters and has recruited Top Ten classes in 2011 (#2) and 2010 (#9), and it is apparent the Seminoles are going to be good, real good. The Noles are the clear frontrunner in the ACC.

Toledo 17
With 50 lettermen and 17 starters back, the Rockets are poised to win the MAC title. Preseason rags state Toledo will have the best receiving corp and secondary in the league.

2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl Preview

December 31, 2010 7:30 PM ET

Stadium: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Payout: $3,250,000 (ACC), $2,400,000 (SEC)

Played: 1968-present

Once known as: Peach Bowl (1968-1997)

Broadcasters: Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham

Sideline Reporter: Jeannine Edwards

Storyline: Two similar teams will face off in the Georgia Dome in the last college football game of the 2010 calendar year. South Carolina and Florida State both lost in their respective conferences’ title games. Both teams are 9-4. Both teams have excellent defenses; the Seminoles lead the nation in sacks, while the Gamecocks are 5^th in that category. South Carolina won nine games for the first time since 2001, including giving Alabama its first loss since its national championship. A win over the Seminoles will tie South Carolina’s record for the most wins in a season. The Gamecocks won 10 games in 1984. Steve Spurrier is 1-3 in bowl games at South Carolina. Florida State is appearing in its 29^th straight bowl game, the longest streak in college football. Talk about consistency! Seminoles quarterback Christian Ponder will be behind center despite an elbow injury that has plagued him the second half of the season and not appearing in the ACC title game against Virginia Tech. Florida State looks to cap Jimbo Fisher’s inaugural season with a win over a proven Gamecocks squad. Florida State has defeated South Carolina in the previous six meetings, the most recent being 1991.

All-time Series: 15-3 Florida State

Line: South Carolina by 3

	South Carolina			Florida State
Overall Record	9-4		Overall Record	9-4
Conference Record	5-3		Conference Record	6-2
Bowl Record	4-11		Bowl Record	22-14-2
Last Bowl Win	2006 Liberty		Last Bowl Win	2010 Gator

ACC Home Attendance Figures

	Boston College			Clemson
Alumni Stadium			Memorial Stadium
S4 Weber State	34,168		S4 North Texas	75,000
S11 Kent State	35,122		S11 Presbyterian	70,500
S25 Virginia Tech	42,317		O2 Miami	81,500
O2 Notre Dame	44,500		O16 Maryland	71,000
O23 Maryland	36,078		O23 Georgia Tech	75,000
O30 Clemson	37,137		N6 NC State	74,000
N20 Virginia	39,263		N27 South Carolina	81,500
AVERAGE	38,369		AVERAGE	75,500
	Duke			Florida State
Wallace Wade Stadium			Doak Campbell Stadium
S4 Elon	33,941		S4 Samford	68,438
S18 Alabama	39,042		S18 BYU	68,795
S25 Army	27,289		S25 Wake Forest	61,647
O16 Miami	25,911		O16 Boston College	75,301
N6 Virginia	22,741		N6 North Carolina	70,157
N13 Boston College	21,420		N13 Clemson	72,228
N27 North Carolina	30,904		N27 Florida	82,324
AVERAGE	28,750		AVERAGE	71,270
	Georgia Tech			Maryland
Bobby Dodd Stadium			Byrd Stadium
S4 SC State	51,668		S11 Morgan State	40,099
S25 NC State	48,825		S25 FIU	33,254
O9 Virginia	48,016		O2 Duke	39,106
O16 Middle Tennessee	40,652		O30 Wake Forest	39,063
N13 Miami	47,425		N20 Florida State	48,115
N20 Duke	42,110		N27 NC State	35,370
AVERAGE	46,449		AVERAGE	39,168
	Miami			North Carolina
Sun Life Stadium			Kenan Stadium
S2 Florida A&M	53,674		S18 Georgia Tech	58,500
O9 Florida State	75,115		O2 East Carolina	60,000
O23 North Carolina	43,584		O9 Clemson	60,000
N6 Maryland	55,434		O30William & Mary	51,000
N20 Virginia Tech	40,101		N13 Virginia Tech	60,000
N27 South Florida	41,148		N20 NC State	60,000
AVERAGE	51,509		AVERAGE	58,250
	North Carolina State			Virginia
Carter-Finley Stadium			Scott Stadium
S4 Western Carolina	56,417		S4 Richmond	54,146
S16 Cincinnati	55,934		S25 VMI	43,592
O2 Virginia Tech	58,083		O2 Florida State	47,096
O9 Boston College	56,859		O16 North Carolina	50,830
O28 Florida State	56,807		O23 Eastern Michigan	37,386
N13 Wake Forest	57,161		O30 Miami	39,528
			N13 Maryland	45,634
AVERAGE	56,877		AVERAGE	45,459
	Virginia Tech			Wake Forest
Lane Stadium			BB&T Field
S11 James Madison	66,233		S2 Presbyterian	28,205
S18 East Carolina	66,233		S11 Duke	31,673
O9 Central Michigan	66,233		O2 Georgia Tech	30,263
O16 Wake Forest	66,233		O9 Navy	31,454
O23 Duke	66,233		N6 Boston College	29,465
N4 Georgia Tech	66,233		N20 Clemson	31,783
N27 Virginia	66,233
AVERAGE	66,233		AVERAGE	30,474

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Clemson	75,500
Florida State	71,270
Virginia Tech	66,233
North Carolina	58,250
North Carolina State	56,877
Miami	51,509
Georgia Tech	46,449
Virginia	45,459
Maryland	39,168
Boston College	38,369
Wake Forest	30,474
Duke	28,750