Discover Orange Bowl

Bowl History: This Bowl was first played in 1935 and has been held annually since the bowl’s inaugural game!  The initial game was played on January 1, 1935, when Bucknell beat Miami of Florida, 26-0! The Orange Bowl celebrated its 75th anniversary in the 2009 addition of the game, Virginia Tech beat Cincinnati, 20-7 and last year’s game had West Virginia pounding Clemson 70- to 33! The Conference tie-ins are the ACC and Orange Bowl Committee Selection Team! The payout is $17,500,000.,00

Teams: Florida State: Conference Affiliation: ACC; Overall Record 11-2, Conference Record 8-1, Divisional Record 4-1 (ACC’s Atlantic Division) vs Northern Illinois:  Conference Affiliation: MAC; Overall Record 12-1, Conference Record: 9-1, Divisional Record 5-0 (MAC’s West Division)

Bowl Location: Miami Gardens, Florida … played @ the Sun Life Stadium, the seating capacity @ the facility is 75,540. Last year’s game which featured West Virginia and Clemson, was attended by 67,563 or 89.44% of Sun Life Stadium’s capacity.

Day, Date, & Time: Tuesday, 1/1/13 @ 7:30 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: Florida State: beat Clemson, 49-37, Miami FL, 33-20, Duke, 48-7, Virginia Tech, 28-22 & Georgia Tech 21-15! NIU: Central Michigan, 55-24, Ball Sate 35-23, Toledo, 31-24, & Kent State, 44-37 OT! All nine of these teams were Bowl Eligible!

Worst Losses: FSU: lost to NC State, 17-16; NIU: lost to Iowa, 18-17!

Common Opponents: None

Las Vegas Hotsheet: Game opened @ FSU -14 and has moved to FSU -13!

Offensive Team Data: Florida State: Total Yards, 466 YPG; Passing Yards, 263 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 203 YPG; Scoring Average 40 PPG, Turnovers, 2.0 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 44.3%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 91% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 71%

Offensive Team Data: NIU: Total Yards, 463 YPG; Passing Yards, 231 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 232 YPG; Scoring Average 41 PPG, Turnovers, 1.38 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 48%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 80% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 71%

Defensive Team Data: Florida State: Total Yards, 253 YPG; Passing Yards, 161 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 93 YPG; Scoring Average 15 PPG, Turnovers, 1.54 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 27.7%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 86% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 52%

Defensive Team Data: NIU: Total Yards, 342 YPG; Passing Yards, 209 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 133 YPG; Scoring Average 19 PPG, Turnovers, 1.85 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 41.5%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 65% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 43%

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 NIU’s total yards on offense, add it to what FSU 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 FSU’s total offense, add it to what NIU 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 FSU 404 to 358

Passing Yards: Advantage FSU 236 to 196

Rushing Yards: Advantage FSU 168 to 163

Scoring: Advantage FSU 30 to 28

Turnovers: Advantage NIU 1.46 to 1.93

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage FSU 42.9% to 37.9%

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage NIU 83% to 78%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage NIU 62% to 57%

Individuals to Watch: FSU: QB E.J. Manual 3,101 yards, 22 TD’s, 11 INT’s and completed 68% of his attempts, NIU QB, Jordan Lynch, passed for 3,962 yards, 24 TD’s, 5 INT’s while completing 63% . Lynch has also rushed for 1,771 yards, 19 TD’s while averaging 6.2 yards per carry!

Sully Says: the MAC is in a BCS Bowl Game for the first time in their Conference’s history. NIU’s QB has been second only to Clark Kent this season. Jordan Lynch has accounted for almost 6,000 yards running & passing … the problem is the competition he has amassed these numbers against … and how will he do vs the athleticism of FSU’s defense? The general pregame conversation between and among the ESPN talking heads is that Lynch will be just one more good athlete on the field … and nothing beyond that… this should be fun! I, for one, and perhaps … the only one ,… think NIU belongs and that Lynch will open eyes tonight! Sully’s CFP Says …take the 13.5 and NIU!!