Tuesday Bowl Games; 12-27-11

There are two bowl games being played today/tonight. Both are being broadcast on ESPN.

The first, starting at 4:30 PM, is the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit, Michigan. This pits the Western Michigan Broncos (7-5) vs. the Purdue Boilermakers (6-6). The Broncos have a slight edge in the home field advantage, but the Purdue fans will make the trip for a game being played under a roof. Purdue finished third in the Leaders Division of the Big 10 with a 4-4 conference record. Their sole signature win was a 26-23 victory over Ohio State. Western Michigan finished third in the West Division of the MAC with a 5-3 conference record. The ended the season with wins over Miami of Ohio and Akron. Look for the Broncos to pick apart the Purdue pass defense and put a number of points on the board. Alex Carder has engineered a pass offense ranked #8 in the nation. Wide receiver Jordan White has 127 catches for 1646 yards and 16 TDs. Their defense will do enough to produce a comfortable margin of victory.

Western Michigan 45, Purdue 20


The second, with a kickoff of 8 PM, is the Belk Bowl being played in Charlotte, NC. Here, it will be the Louisville Cardinals (7-5) vs. the N.C. State Wolfpack (7-5). N.C. State would seem to have a bit of a home field advantage.

The Wolfpack finished fourth in the Atlantic Division of the ACC (4-4 in conference) and ended the season with consecutive wins against Clemson and Maryland.

The Cardinals are listed as third in the Big East but had the same record in conference as Cincinnati and West Virginia (5-2). They, too, ended the regular season with two consecutive victories; over Connecticut and South Florida. This could be a real good game. Louisville got stronger as the year went on and their youngsters got more experience. Look for the Cardinals’ defense to hold the Wolfpack under control and the offense to do just enough to pull out a win.

Louisville 24, N.C. State 20