Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Bowl History: This bowl is not to be confused with the current Belk Bowl  (formally known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl … which is played in Memphis, Tennessee). The official name of this event is the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas! There have been two other bowls played in Houston; the Houston Bowl, 2000 to 2005 & the Bluebonnet Bowl, played from 1959 to 1987. The current Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas is not an extension of either of these bowls and traces its origins to 2006! The first game in this bowl series was played between Rutgers & Kansas State, won by Rutgers, 37 to 10, on December 28, 2006! Last year’s bowl game champion …  was/is Texas A&M, who stopped Northwestern, 33-22, on December 31, 2011! The conference tie-ins are Big 12 / Big Ten and the bowl payout is $1,700,000.00 per team!

Teams:  Texas Tech: Conference Affiliation: Big 12; Overall Record 7-5, Conference Record 4-5: ….  vs ….   Minnesota:  Conference Affiliation: Big Ten; Overall Record 6-6; Conference Record 2-6, Divisional Record 0-5 (Legends Division)!

Bowl Location: The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas is played in Houston, Texas! The hosting arena is Reliant Stadium, the home field for the NFL’s, Houston Texans! Reliant Stadium has a has a seating capacity of 71,054 & last year’s game (2011), played between Texas A&M & Northwestern …. drew a crowd 68,395 or 96.26% of capacity.

Day, Date, & Time Friday, 12/28/12 @ 8:00 p.m.

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: Texas Tech: beat Iowa State, 24-13, West Virginia, 49-14 & TCU 56-53 in 3 OT’s! Minnesota: beat Syracuse, 17-10 & Purdue, 44-28… all five of these teams are in post season bowl games!

Worst Losses: Texas Tech: was hammered by Oklahoma, 41-20, Oklahoma State, 59-21, & Kansas State, 55-24!   Minnesota: went 0-5 in their division, losing to Iowa, 31-13, Northwestern, 21-13, Michigan 35-13, MSU, 26-10, & Nebraska, 38-14!

Common Opponents: None

Las Vegas Hotsheet: The game opened @ Texas Tech -13 and has remained @ TTU -13

Offensive Team Data: Texas Tech: Total Yards, 510 YPG; Passing Yards, 365 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 145 YPG; Scoring Average 38 PPG, Turnovers, 1.5 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 48.2%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 87% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 68%

Offensive Team Data: Minnesota: Total Yards, 318 YPG; Passing Yards, 171 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 146 YPG; Scoring Average 21 PPG, Turnovers, 1.75 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 34.4%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 81% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 58%

Defensive Team Data: Texas Tech: Total Yards, 358 YPG; Passing Yards, 193 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 166 YPG; Scoring Average 32 PPG, Turnovers, 1.17 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 38.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 86% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 61%

Defensive Team Data: Minnesota: Total Yards, 353 YPG; Passing Yards, 179 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 174 YPG; Scoring Average 24 PPG, Turnovers, 1.5 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions 40.6%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 82% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 65%

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 Minnesota’s total yards on offense, add it to what Texas Tech 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 T-Tech’s total offense, add it to what Minnesota 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: Texas Tech 432 to 338

Passing Yards: Advantage:  Texas Tech 272 to 182

Rushing Yards: Advantage:  Texas Tech 160 to 156

Scoring: Advantage:  :  Texas Tech 31 to 27

Turnovers: Advantage: Minnesota 1.46 to 1.50

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage: Texas Tech 44.4% to 36.6%

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage: Texas Tech 85% to 84%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage:  Texas Tech 67% to 60%

Individuals to Watch: Texas Tech’s QB, Seth Dodge, is a terrific player … he has passed for 3,934 yards, 38 TD’s, 14 INT’s, & completed 70% of his passes. Techs WR’s, Eric Ward (75 receptions, 974 yards,  13.0 yards per catch, & 11 TD’s) and Darrin Moore (receptions 81, 948 yards, 11.7 yards per catch, & 13 TD”s) could/will make it along day for the Gopher pass defense … Moore is 4th in the nation in receptions for TD’s! Minnesota will push back with WR A.J. Baker … no wait … he quit the team. Ok…. QB, Max Shortell… oops he’s Transferring. The best chance the Golden Gopher have in this game is two-fold… 1) Tech’s Coach Tommy Tuberville left Tech to take the Cincinnati Job and 2) Three Tech defensive players ( DB, Cornelius Douglas, LB, Chris Payne, & DT, Leon Mackey) have been suspended from participating in the bowl!

Sully Says: This will not be pretty! The Big Ten, W/O Ohio State & Penn State in the mix has had to fill bowl slots by dropping down two teams, in other words, this should not be Minnesota …. maybe MSU … then … the Big Ten would, at least, have the athletes to compete! Minnesota did not win a divisional game this year (0-5) … and yet … here they are lining up against the nation’s second ranked passing offense and a QB,  who has thrown the second most TD passes (38) in the country. Sully’s CFP Says …. Take Tech to the Bank … the only concern about the -13 is … how unlucky will that be for the Gophers! Tech wins & covers!!