2011 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Preview

Date: December 26, 2011 5:00 ET

Stadium: Independence Stadium, Shreveport, Louisiana

Payout: $1,150,000

Played: 1976-present

Former Names: N/A

Broadcasters: Rob Stone, Danny Kanell

Sideline Reporter: Allison Williams

All Time Series: 2-0 Missouri

Line: Missouri by 5.5

	Missouri			North Carolina
Overall Record	7-5		Overall Record	7-5
Conference Record	5-4		Conference Record	3-5
Bowl Record	12-16		Bowl Record	13-15
Last Bowl Win	2008 Alamo		Last Bowl Win	2010 Music City

Helmet Stickers: Week 2

ACC—North Carolina squeezed by Rutgers 24-22 after forcing the Scarlet Knights to turn the ball over on downs on their final possession with 2:32 left in the game. The Tarheel run defense was stellar, holding the Scarlet Knights to 1 yard on the ground on 25 attempts. North Carolina got four sacks, while providing perfect protection for its own signal-caller. The strangest stat of the game was that the Tarheels were -5 in turnover margin, attributed to three picks and two fumbles, yet still won the game.

Big 10—No. 8 Wisconsin pitched a shutout against Oregon State in Madison, 35-0. The Wisconsin defense held the Beavers to just 23 rushing yards on 24 rushing attempts. The Badgers forced two fumbles and gave up no turnovers of their own. The Badgers dominated every facet of the game and controlled the field position battle by capitalizing on three Beaver special teams mistakes.

Big 12—In a rematch of last year’s Alamo Bowl, the result was the same and the margin of victory was one field goal off. No. 9 Oklahoma State blasted Arizona for the second time in nine months. Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden was 42 of 53 for 397 yards. He started the game completing 22 of his first 23 passes. Cowboys wideout Justin Blackmon had his fourteenth straight appearance with at least 100 yards receiving. Oklahoma State’s defense held Arizona’s explosive offense to just two touchdowns.

Big East—South Florida was the only Big East team to win a game not over an FCS opponent, so the Bulls get a helmet sticker this week for a dominating 37-7 rout of Ball State. The Bulls forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, and Mark Joyce ran it in for a touchdown. Just 8 seconds into the game, South Florida was in control. The Bulls amassed 519 yards of total offense, using ten receivers, five rushers, and two quarterbacks.

C-USA—Rice upset Purdue 24-22 at home on Saturday. The Boilermakers drove to the Owls’ 14-yard line in the final minute and planned to kick a field goal on the final play to escape Houston with a win. Rice linebacker Justin Allen broke through Purdue’s offensive line and blocked Purdue placekicker Carson Wiggs’ 31-yard field goal attempt. This ended a 22-game streak of being a doormat to BCS conference opponents. The Rice Owls had not beaten such a team since September 8, 2001 in a contest against Duke. The last time the Owls beat a Big Ten team was in 1997 against Northwestern. This was a huge win for Rice.

MAC—Temple gets the helmet sticker for Week 2 since the Owls were the only Mid-America Conference team to beat an opponent that was not from the FCS. Temple rolled the Akron Zips 41-3. The Owls have started 2-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since the late 1960’s and have now beaten Akron five-straight times. Temple’s standout running back Bernard Pierce rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns on eighteen carries. Backup running back Matt Brown had 85 yards on sixteen carries.

MWC—Texas Christian rebounded after a loss in Week 1 to Baylor by beating Air Force 35-19. The Horned Frogs were balanced on offense, passing for 206 yards and rushing for 204 yards. TCU quarterback Casey Pachall had an 80% completion rate. The Horned Frogs had three new starters on defense. Kenny Cain, starting at strongside linebacker for the injured Tanner Brock, tallied seven tackles. Texas Christian has not lost a Mountain West conference game since 2008 and should make another run for the conference title this year despite many new faces.

Pac-12—Arizona State debuted its new logo in a Friday night game that went to overtime. The restyled Sun Devils took out the No. 21 Mizzou Tigers after scoring 7 in overtime and subsequently shutting down Missouri’s attempt to score. Sun Devils senior wideout Aaron Pflugrad had eight catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona State beat its first ranked opponent in the last eleven tries.

SEC—Auburn needed last minute heroics once again to preserve the longest unbeaten streak in the nation. After barely getting by Utah State last week, the Tigers stopped No. 16 Mississippi State, barely, on the final play of the game. Backup safety Ryan Smith stopped Bulldogs quarterback Chris Relf at the goal line to give the Tigers the 41-34 win. It was Smith’s fourth tackle of his career, and Auburn’s 17^th consecutive victory. Auburn is still a legitimate contender without Cam Newton or Nick Fairley.

Sun Belt—Florida International gets the Sun Belt helmet sticker again after defeating Louisville 24-17 on the road. This was the program’s first victory over a BCS conference team and the first time the team has started a season 2-0. The Golden Panthers were all about the big play. Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton had touchdown catches of 74 and 83 yards. Linebacker Winston Fraser returned an interception 71 yards for a touchdown. Mario Cristobal has to be a candidate for the next big head coach job opening based on what he has done at FIU.

WAC—New Mexico State picked up a 28-21 win over Minnesota in Minneapolis Saturday. The Aggies were 22.5 point underdogs. This was NMSU’s first win over a BCS conference school since 1999, when it beat Arizona State. DeWayne Walker got his first signature win as head coach against the school he played cornerback at, and the Aggies got their first win ever over a Big Ten team. With 20 seconds left in the game Minnesota head coach Larry Kill had a seizure. DeWayne Walker’s Aggie team was full of class when it gathered to pray for Larry Kill while he was being stabilized and taken to the hospital.

NCAA Violations

College football has been plagued by scandals over the past few years. We've seen a can of worms bust open at Ohio State, USC vacating the 2004 national championship, improper benefits at North Carolina, Camgate at Auburn, the free textbook scandal at Alabama, recruiting violations at Oregon and Tennessee, and the list goes on and on.

The question arises: Has there been any FBS programs that have not come under the scrutiny of the NCAA?

The NCAA classifies violations as being either major or secondary. Major violations are ones that give a school an extensive recruiting or competitive advantage. Football and men's basketball are the two sports involved in most cases of rule-breaking. There are 17 schools in the FBS that have never been found to have committed a major violation in any sport since 1953, the year rule violations started being tracked. Those schools are Boston College, Northwestern, Penn State, Stanford, Air Force, Boise State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, Kent State, North Texas, Ohio, Rice, Troy, UAB, and Western Michigan. Only 4 are BCS conference schools. Boise State may be leaving the list soon as it is currently under investigation by the NCAA's infractions committee in five sports.

2010 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Preview

December 30, 2010 6:40 PM ET

Stadium: LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee

Payout: $1,600,000

Played: 1998-present

Once known as: N/A

Broadcasters: Mark Jones, Bob Davie

Sideline Reporter: Cara Capuano

Storyline: North Carolina and Tennessee will meet for the first time since 1961 in the Music City Bowl. North Carolina spent much of the season immersed in scandal involving sports agents, improper gifts, and academic misconduct to the detriment of the football programs reputation. Despite having to sit seven players all season, the Tar Heels were able to perform well enough to make it into the postseason and go 4-4 in ACC play. Tennessee was 2-6 and had to win its final four games to become bowl-eligible. Freshman quarterback Tyler Bray was the spark the Volunteers needed; he went 4-0 as a starter. Tennessee is trying to regroup under new head coach Derek Dooley after Lane Kiffin and some recruits left the program after one year. The Volunteers will be playing 180 miles from home and can expect a Vols-friendly crowd. The Tar Heels need to win this game to end the reputation-damaging 2010 season on a positive note. The Volunteers need to win to get above .500 and to prove their program is finally on the rebound.

All-time Series: 20-10-1 Tennessee

Line: North Carolina by 1

	North Carolina			Tennessee
Overall Record	7-5		Overall Record	6-6
Conference Record	4-4		Conference Record	3-5
Bowl Record	12-5		Bowl Record	25-23
Last Bowl Win	2001 Peach		Last Bowl Win	2007 Outback

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