2012 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Preview

Date: December 31, 2012 12:00 PM ET
Stadium: LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee
Payout: $1,837,500 per team
Played: 1998-present
Former Names: N/A
Broadcasters: Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore
Sideline Reporter: Jemele Hill

North Carolina State: Quarterback Mike Glennon accumulated 3,648 passing yards and threw 13 touchdowns, leading the twentieth best passing attack in terms of yards per game. Head coach Tom O'Brien was fired at the end of the season. Offensive coordinator Dana Bible will act as interim head coach for the bowl game.

Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt relied on a stout defense, allowing just 18.3 points per game. Vandy's pass defense held opposing quarterbacks to just 175.8 yards per game. The Commodores will be playing in a default home game. A win in the Music City Bowl will give Vanderbilt their first 9-win season since 1915.

	North Carolina State			Vanderbilt
Overall Record	7-5		Overall Record	8-4
Conference Record	4-4		Conference Record	5-3
Bowl Record	14-11-1		Bowl Record	2-2-1
Last Bowl Win	2011 Belk		Last Bowl Win	2008 Music City

All Time Series: 1-0 Vanderbilt
Line: Vanderbilt by 7.5

2011 AutoZone Liberty Bowl Preview

Date: December 31, 2011 3:30 PM ET

Stadium: Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee

Payout: $1,700,000

Played: 1959-present

Former Names: N/A

Broadcasters: Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley

Sideline Reporter: Quint Kessenich

All Time Series: 3-1 Vanderbilt

Line: Vanderbilt by 2

	Cincinnati			Vanderbilt
Overall Record	9-3		Overall Record	6-6
Conference Record	5-2		Conference Record	2-6
Bowl Record	5-6		Bowl Record	2-1-1
Last Bowl Win	2007 Papajohns.com		Last Bowl Win	2008 Music City

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.

Firings and Resignations Critique, Part 1

Tim Brewster   15-30 (6-21)

Minnesota

Fired 10/17/10

Firing Brewster was the right decision. His conference record was .222 and nonconference record was .500. His marquee loss was to the South Dakota Coyotes during Week 2 of the 2010 season. Brewster was able to get Minnesota to the Insight Bowl twice (2008, 2009) during his 3 ½ years, but both games ended in losses. Minnesota is a tough assignment but not a place where it’s impossible to win and recruit. The university has a new stadium, is located in a large metro area, has no in-state competition for recruits, and has a large alumni base. With hard work, strong leadership, and some luck, the Golden Gophers could find their way into the Top 25 in the next few years.

Todd Dodge   6-37 (3-23)

North Texas

Fired 10/20/10

When Dodge took over the program at North Texas, the program was coming off of two dismal seasons. Dodge never was able to make much improvement only winning 3 conference games in his 3 ½ years at North Texas. The Mean Green never finished better than 2-10 under his direction. During the 2010 season, North Texas was plagued heavily by injuries early in the season and never had a chance to rebound. The Mean Green had ten starters injured (nine season-ending) after their third game. Dodge has proven to be an elite high school coach, but the high school level and college level are two different beasts.

Dan Hawkins   19-39 (10-27)

Colorado

Fired 11/9/10

Dan Hawkins tenure started out rotten and ended rotten. In his first game as head coach, the Buffs lost to FCS Montana State. He was never able to guide the program to a better-than-.500 season. Hawkins had a .074 winning percentage in games not played at Folsom Field or Invesco Field at Mile High. The last straw was on November 6^th when Colorado blew a 28 point lead in the fourth quarter over Kansas. The Jayhawks won 52-45. This was the biggest meltdown in the history of Buffaloes football. The writing was on the wall that Dan Hawkins could not bring Colorado back to its 1990 glory days. The university should have taken out the trash after the 2009 season.

Doug Martin   29-53 (21-35)

Kent State

Resigned 11/21/10

Doug Martin resigned after seven seasons leading the Golden Flashes. A 29-53 may look bad on paper, but when considering the support the football program gets from the university and the fact that Martin has the best winning percentage at Kent State since Glen Mason coached the Golden Flashes in 1986 and 1987, Martin was doing a pretty good job with the resources he had. The football team shares a weight room with all of the other athletic teams. Kent State’s football program has the smallest recruiting budget in the MAC. Doug Martin was the lowest-paid head coach out of all FBS programs in 2010. Martin’s best record in his seven seasons was 6-6 in 2006. Consider that four of Doug Martin’s seven seasons had five wins. Since 1972, the Golden Flashes have won five games in a season just 12 times. I’m not sure Darrell Hazell will be able to do much better at one of the toughest coaching assignments in the FBS.

Stan Parrish   6-19 (5-11)

Ball State

Fired 11/22/10

Stan Parrish was rightfully fired after going 6-19 as head coach at Ball State. Parrish was Brady Hoke’s offensive coordinator before taking over as head coach when Brady Hoke darted to San Diego State. After Ball State’s amazing 12-2 2008 season, the Cardinals fell back to below average for Parrish’s two full seasons at the helm. The Cardinals went from double digits wins to double digit losses between the 2008 and 2009 seasons. While the job in Muncie is not an easy one, the Cardinals laid some eggs under Parrish: losing to a FCS school in 2009 and 2010, losing to an Eastern Michigan team that was on an 18-game losing streak.

Robbie Caldwell   2-10 (1-7)

Vanderbilt         

Resigned 11/27/10

Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson retired less than two months before the 2010 season, and the Commodores needed a head coach that knew the program ASAP. Robbie Caldwell was thrown into the fire. Caldwell went 2-10 like Johnson did in 2009. He decided to not stay. Perhaps, Caldwell could have had some success in the long term, but Vanderbilt made it clear they needed to get a flashy name to start some buzz in Commodore football again and turn the page on the Bobby Johnson. Vanderbilt is the toughest place to build a winning program in the SEC. It is likely Ron Franklin will not be able to do much better than Caldwell, but at least fresh leadership will attract recruits and reinvigorate the fan base.

Randy Shannon   28-22 (16-16)

Miami

Fired 11/27/10

Randy Shannon did not meet the high expectations that University of Miami has for its football team. The last five head coaches winning percentages at Miami were: .800 (Coker), .718 (Davis), .875 (Erickson), .852 (Johnson), and .719 (Schnellenberger). Randy Shannon’s: .560. Add to that the fact that the Hurricanes never won their division or a bowl game in Shannon’s four years. Four of the previous five Miami head coaches won national championships. Losing to Florida State, 45-17, falling to South Florida, 23-20 in overtime, and a loss to a rebuilding Virginia team made getting rid of Shannon necessary. However, Shannon did get players to attend classes and stay out of trouble. The moniker Thug U was nonexistent during the Shannon years. While Shannon did not have the winning percentage or resume of his predecessors, he bled Miami green and orange and acted like a father figure to many of his players. Miami has lost ground to other programs in recent years and Al Golden, a hire from outside the program, may not be the answer.

SEC Home Attendance Figures

	Alabama			Arkansas
Bryant-Denny Stadium			Razorback Stadium, War Memorial Stadium*
S4 San Jose State	101,821		S4 Tennessee Tech	69,596
S11 Penn State	101,821		S25 Alabama	76,808
O2 Florida	101,821		O23 Mississippi	73,619
O16 Mississippi	101,821		O30 Vanderbilt	70,430
N13 Mississippi State	101,821		N13 UTEP	67,330
N18 Georgia State	101,821		N27 LSU*	55,808
N26 Auburn	101,821
AVERAGE	101,821		AVERAGE	68,932
	Auburn			Florida
Jordan-Hare Stadium			Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
S4 Arkansas State	83,441		S4 Miami (OH)	90,178
S18 Clemson	87,451		S11 South Florida	90,612
S25 South Carolina	87,237		S25 Kentucky	90,547
O2 UL-Monroe	80,759		O9 LSU	90,721
O16 Arkansas	87,451		O16 Mississippi State	90,517
O23 LSU	87,451		N13 South Carolina	90,885
N6 Chattanooga	87,451		N20 Appalachian State	90,119
N13 Georgia	87,451
AVERAGE	86,087		AVERAGE	90,511
	Georgia			Kentucky
Sanford Stadium			Commonwealth Stadium
S4 UL-Lafayette	92,746		S11 Western Kentucky	66,584
S18 Arkansas	92,746		S18 Akron	64,014
O9 Tennessee	92,746		O9 Auburn	70,776
O16 Vanderbilt	92,746		O16 South Carolina	67,955
N6 Idaho State	92,746		O23 Georgia	70,884
N27 Georgia Tech	92,746		N6 Charleston Southern	61,884
			N13 Vanderbilt	60,391
AVERAGE	92,746		AVERAGE	66,070
	LSU			Mississippi
Tiger Stadium			Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
S18 Mississippi State	92,538		S4 Jacksonville State	55,768
S25 West Virginia	92,575		S18 Vanderbilt	51,667
O2 Tennessee	92,932		S25 Fresno State	55,267
O16 McNeese State	92,576		O2 Kentucky	55,344
N6 Alabama	92,969		O30 Auburn	61,474
N13 UL-Monroe	92,518		N6 UL-Lafayette	53,144
N20 Mississippi	92,915		N27 Mississippi State	58,625
AVERAGE	92,718		AVERAGE	55,898
	Mississippi State			South Carolina
Davis Wade Stadium			Williams-Brice Stadium
S4 Memphis	56,032		S2 Southern Miss	70,438
S9 Auburn	54,806		S11 Georgia	80,974
S25 Georgia	56,721		S18 Furman	73,681
O2 Alcorn State	50,439		O9 Alabama	82,993
O23 UAB	56,423		O30 Tennessee	79,336
O30 Kentucky	54,168		N6 Arkansas	75,136
N20 Arkansas	56,406		N20 Troy	74,117
AVERAGE	54,999		AVERAGE	76,668
	Tennessee			Vanderbilt
Neyland Stadium			Vanderbilt Stadium
S4 Tennessee-Martin	99,123		S4 Northwestern	37,210
S11 Oregon	102,035		S11 LSU	36,940
S18 Florida	102,455		O9 Eastern Michigan	33,107
S25 UAB	95,183		O23 South Carolina	33,425
O23 Alabama	102,455		N6 Florida	33,848
N13 Mississippi	96,044		N20 Tennessee	37,017
N27 Kentucky	101,170		N27 Wake Forest	21,338
AVERAGE	99,781		AVERAGE	33,269

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Alabama	101,821
Tennessee	99,781
Georgia	92,746
LSU	92,718
Florida	90,511
Auburn	86,087
South Carolina	76,668
Arkansas	68,932
Kentucky	66,070
Mississippi	55,898
Mississippi State	54,999
Vanderbilt	33,269