2012 Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl Preview

Date: January 2, 2012 1:00 PM ET

Stadium: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Florida

Payout: $2,700,000

Played: 1946-present

Former Names: N/A

Broadcasters: Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham

Sideline Reporter: Jeannine Edwards

All Time Series: 1-0 Florida

Line: Florida by 2.5

	Ohio State			Florida
Overall Record	6-6		Overall Record	6-6
Conference Record	3-5		Conference Record	3-5
Bowl Record	20-22		Bowl Record	19-19
Last Bowl Win	2011 Sugar		Last Bowl Win	2011 Outback

Urban Meyer Is Back

Last January I put together a short "obituary" for Urban Meyer when he retired from college football to stabilize his health and spend time with his family. For some reason I never posted it. I guess I thought Urban Meyer would be returning to the coaching ranks at some point. Here is what I had written and saved in a Word file last January:

"Urban Meyer’s retirement from college football on January 2, 201 is a loss of one of the best coaches in the game but a good decision for Urban Meyer’s health and family. It became apparent after Meyer’s leave of absence in December 2009 that the stress of being a head coach at a big time program had taken its toll. College football is life, but not worth dying over. Meyer won two national championships in his six seasons, compiling a 65-15 record in Gainesville. The Pontiff was 36-13 in SEC games. Meyer was 5-1 in bowl games at Florida and 7-1 in bowl games throughout his 10 seasons as a head coach. The numbers say it all: great college football coach. Urban Meyer will remain involved in college football by working as an analyst at ESPN."

It is ludicrous that Urban Meyer blamed his departure on health and family, when he will once again be a head coach. He will be stressed out and spending long hours away from his family trying to bring back one of college football's premier programs. There is as much pressure to win in Columbus as there was in Gainesville. If Meyer's health really went into decline at Florida, it will surely do so again with Ohio State. Either he was lying to the Gators fanbase or he has a deathwish. Did Meyer leave Florida because he saw the program was headed for a downswing? Did Meyer return to college football because the Buckeyes are bound to rise back to the top? Did he lie about health and family to prevent his coaching record to be blemished with subpar seasons at Florida?

I think Ohio State will rebuild under Urban Meyer and contend for the Big Ten Championship again in a couple years. He may be a good coach, but his resignation from Florida smelled of bullshit. If things do go sour at Ohio State, will he duck and run again under the disguise of personal issues? I question his integrity and loyalty.

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.

2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl Preview

January 4, 2011 8:30 PM ET

Stadium: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Payout: $17,000,000

Played: 1935-present

Once known as: N/A

Broadcasters: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge

Sideline Reporter: Holly Rowe

Storyline: The Sugar Bowl got even bigger following January 1^st when the SEC beat the Big Ten big in three games. Now, the Buckeyes must carry the Big Ten banner and prevent the SEC from sweeping the Big Ten in bowl games, four to zero. The Buckeyes are 0-9 against Southeastern Conference schools in bowls all-time. Ohio State is favored, coming into the Big Easy with the 3^rd best defense and 11^th best offense in the nation. Dual-threat quarterback Terrelle Pryor has passed for 2,551 yards and rushed for 639 yards. Arkansas has never played in a BCS bowl before and has not played in the Sugar Bowl in thirty years. They look to finish the SEC’s sweep of the Big Ten in bowl games, but are 0-3 in bowl games against Big Ten teams. Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallet has passed for over 300 yards in nine games this season. The Razorbacks boast the 4^th best passing attack in the FBS. Arkansas and Ohio State are meeting for the first time. Both teams are commanded by coaches that have won at least one BCS game: Bobby Petrino and Jim Tressel.

All-time Series: 0-0

Line: Ohio State by 3

	Ohio State			Arkansas
Overall Record	11-1		Overall Record	10-2
Conference Record	7-1		Conference Record	6-2
Bowl Record	19-22		Bowl Record	12-22-3
Last Bowl Win	2010 Rose		Last Bowl Win	2009 Liberty

Big Ten Home Attendance Figures

	Illinois			Indiana
Memorial Stadium			Memorial Stadium
S11 Southern Illinois	52,217		S2 Towson	35,242
S18 Northern Illinois	50,569		S25 Akron	42,258
O2 Ohio State	62,870		O2 Michigan	52,929
O23 Indiana	53,550		O16 Arkansas State	40,480
O30 Purdue	50,371		O30 Northwestern	37,818
N13 Minnesota	55,549		N6 Iowa	42,991
AVERAGE	54,188		AVERAGE	41,953
	Iowa			Michigan
Kinnick Stadium			Michigan Stadium
S4 Eastern Illinois	70,585		S4 Connecticut	113,090
S11 Iowa State	70,585		S18 Massachusetts	110,187
S25 Ball State	70,585		S25 Bowling Green	109,933
O2 Penn State	70,585		O9 Michigan State	113,065
O23 Wisconsin	70,585		O16 Iowa	112,784
O30 Michigan State	70,585		N6 Illinois	111,441
N20 Ohio State	70,585		N20 Wisconsin	112,276
AVERAGE	70,585		AVERAGE	111,825
	Michigan State			Minnesota
Spartan Stadium			TCF Bank Stadium
S4 Western Michigan	75,769		S11 South Dakota	49,554
S18 Notre Dame	78,411		S18 USC	50,442
S25 Northern Colorado	70,926		S25 Northern Illinois	49,368
O2 Wisconsin	73,108		O2 Northwestern	49,228
O16 Illinois	74,441		O23 Penn State	48,479
N6 Minnesota	71,128		O30 Ohio State	48,717
N20 Purdue	71,111		N27 Iowa	50,805
AVERAGE	73,556		AVERAGE	49,513
	Northwestern			Ohio State
Ross Field, Wrigley Field*			Ohio Stadium
S11 Illinois State	25,471		S2 Marshall	105,040
S25 Central Michigan	30,075		S11 Miami	105,454
O9 Purdue	33,847		S18 Ohio	105,075
O23 Michigan State	41,115		S25 Eastern Michigan	105,017
N13 Iowa	47,130		O9 Indiana	105,291
N20 Illinois*	41,058		O23 Purdue	105,387
			N13 Penn State	105,466
			N27 Michigan	105,491
AVERAGE	36,449		AVERAGE	105,278
	Penn State			Purdue
Beaver Stadium			Ross-Ade Stadium
S4 Youngstown State	101,213		S11 Western Illinois	47,301
S18 Kent State	100,610		S18 Ball State	54,124
S25 Temple	104,840		S25 Toledo	42,068
O9 Illinois	107,638		O16 Minnesota	47,319
O30 Michigan	108,539		N6 Wisconsin	45,227
N6 Northwestern	104,147		N13 Michigan	50,268
N27 Michigan State	102,649		N27 Indiana	50,136
AVERAGE	104,234		AVERAGE	48,063
	Wisconsin
Camp Randall Stadium
S11 San Jose State	78,469
S18 Arizona State	81,332
S25 Austin Peay	77,224
O9 Minnesota	80,328
O16 Ohio State	81,194
N13 Indiana	80,477
N27 Northwestern	80,011
AVERAGE	79,862

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Michigan	111,825
Ohio State	105,278
Penn State	104,234
Wisconsin	79,862
Michigan State	73,556
Iowa	70,585
Illinois	54,188
Minnesota	49,513
Purdue	48,063
Indiana	41,953
Northwestern	36,449