Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

Bowl History: The Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl  …. the NCAA certified this Bowl in 1989 and the game has been played annually since that time! This Bowl has had a variety of sponsors: Domino’s Pizza (1989-90), Weiser Lock (1991-95), Insight Enterprises (1996-2011) & in 2012, Buffalo Wild Wings.   The first game in this bowl series took place on December, 31, 1989 … Arizona beat North Carolina State, 17-10 while last years game featured, Oklahoma and Iowa, a game won by the Sooners (Oklahoma), 31-14! The 2011 game, is best remembered for … the ESPN Skycam crashing on to the field and almost taking out Iowa’s WR , Marvin McNutt! This 2011 addition of the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, (last year known as the Insight Bowl) had the best attendance in its history, 54,247! Finally, the conference tie-ins are Big 12 /Big 10 & the Bowl Pay out is $3,300,000.00 per team!

Teams: Michigan State: Conference Affiliation: Big 10; Overall Record 6-6, Conference Record 3-5, Divisional Record 1-4 (Big 10’s Legends Division) vs TCU: Conference  Affiliation: Big 12; Overall Record 7-5, Conference Record: 4-5!

Bowl Location: Tempe, Arizona @ Sun Devil Stadium, the seating capacity @ the facility is 71,706. Last year’s game which featured Oklahoma and Iowa, was attended by 54,247 or 75.65% of the Sun Devil Stadium’s capacity.

Day, Date, & Time: Saturday, 12/29/2012 @ 9:15 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: Michigan State: beat Boise State 17-13, Central Michigan 41-7, & Minnesota 26-10; TCU: beat SMU, 24-16, Baylor 49-21, West Virginia 39-38 / 3 OTs, Texas 20-13 … all 7 of these teams are bowl eligible in 2012!

Worst Losses: Michigan State: Pick one …. lost 5 games by a total of 13 points ( Ohio State 17-16, Iowa 19-16 2 OTs, Michigan 12-10, Nebraska 28-24, & Northwestern 23-20)! TCU: Iowa State 37-23!

Common Opponents: None

Las Vegas Hotsheet: The Game opened with TCU -1 has moved to TCU -3

Offensive Team Data: Michigan State: Total Yards, 369 YPG; Passing Yards, 218 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 152 YPG; Scoring Average 20 PPG, Turnovers, 1.5 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 39.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 81% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 50%

Offensive Team Data: TCU: Total Yards, 397 YPG; Passing Yards, 240 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 158 YPG; Scoring Average 29 PPG, Turnovers, 2.25 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 33.7%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 70% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 50%

Defensive Team Data: Michigan State: Total Yards, 273 YPG; Passing Yards, 174 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 100 YPG; Scoring Average 16 PPG, Turnovers, 1.5 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 30.9%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 82% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 32%

Defensive Team Data:TCU: Total Yards, 332 YPG; Passing Yards, 228 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 104 YPG; Scoring Average 23 PPG, Turnovers, 2.67 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 30%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 83% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 44%

Sully’s Game Simulator:  is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will perform, based solely on their numbers, when they face off on the gridiron! Keep in mind, these stats were established against different teams and conferences and these differences must be taken into account to get a complete picture when attempting to predetermine a winner. If you are interested in how the Simulator works … read this part … if not … skip it! The process used is … we take MSU’s total yards on offense, add it to what TCU gives up on defense, …  get a total and then divide that number by 2 … to get the mean. We then invert the process by taking TCU’s total offense, add it to what MSU gives up on defense, get a total and divide that number by 2  to get the second mean… the greater number (with the exception of Turnovers) is then determined to have the advantage ( please note …. statistical advantage). We repeat this process in each of the eight statistical categories assessed!  That said… here are the results of the Head to Head Analysis:

Total Yards:  Advantage MSU 351 to 335

Passing Yards: Advantage MSU 223 to 207

Rushing Yards: Advantage TCU 129 to 128

Scoring: Advantage TCU 23 to 22

Turnovers: Advantage TCU 1.88 to 2.09

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage MSU 34.9% to 32.3%

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage MSU 82% to 76%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage MSU 47% to 41%

Individuals to Watch: MSU: QB, Andrew Maxwell, threw for 2,578 yards, 13 TD’s, 9 INT’s, and completed 52.9% of his attempts! RB, Le’Veon Bell rushed for 1,648 yards for a 4.4 average per carry, & 11 TDs! Marcus Rush, William Gholston, Max Bullough, & Johnny Adams led a strong Spartan Defense that allowed only 5 rushing TDs all season …. which left  MSU tied for second in the nation … behind ND’s 2! TCU: QB, Trevone Boykin passed for 1,853 yards  (did not start four games), 15 TD’s & 9 INT’s while completing 58% of his passes! TCU had the best defense in the “offense happy” Big 12! TCU D is led by Freshmen, Devonte Fields, who was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year ( 17.5 tackles for loss & 9 sacks)! Clearly this game game will feature to very good defenses and points should be far and few between come Saturday Night!

Sully Says: This should be the most physical bowl game played thus far in the post season! Sully’s Game Simulator (Head to Head on the Site) like MSU in 5 of the 8 statistical categories assessed! MSU has seen plenty of physical defenses like TCU’s in the Big Ten (Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, & Notre Dame in one of their non-conference games) , TCU has played against mostly finesse defenses in their conference … built to deal with the speed of teams in the Big 12! The story of this game will be told early … watch the battle between TCU’s front 7 vs MSU O-Line & Le’Veon Bell. Sully’s CFP Says …. take MSU and the 3!