Inside The Numbers: Bowl Edition

At 2 p.m. EST December 17 on ESPN the Temple Owls and the Wyoming Cowboys will battle each other in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl to kick off the 111th season of bowl games. Here are some numbers and facts of interest headed into this year’s bowl season:

Random Observations

In 1996, there were 18 bowl games.
In 2010, the amount of bowl games were increased to 35.
The amount of bowl games almost doubled in 14 years.
With the guarantee of a SEC team winning the national title, it’ll now be 10 of the last 20 national champions have come from the SEC (1992 Alabama, 1996 Florida, 1998 Tennessee, 2003 LSU, 2006 Florida, 2007 LSU, 2008 Florida, 2009 Alabama, 2010 Auburn, 2011 Alabama or LSU)
In the first 59 seasons of the SEC, there were only 11 teams from the conference crowned national champions (1951 Tennessee, 1957 Auburn, 1958 LSU, 1960 Ole Miss, 1961 Alabama, 1964 Alabama, 1965 Alabama, 1973 Alabama, 1978 Alabama, 1979 Alabama, 1980 Georgia)
Ball State, Hawaii, and Western Kentucky were the only bowl-eligible teams to not make a bowl this season.
For the 7th time since World War II there are no bowl games being played on New Year’s Day (1956, 1961, 1967, 1978, 1984, 2006, 2012)
Worst combined record for BCS bowl: Orange Bowl (19-6)
Best combined record for non-BCS bowl: Ticketcity Bowl (21-4)
Worst combined record for bowl: Hunger Bowl (12-13)
Highest ranked BCS team not in a BCS bowl: Arkansas (#6)
Lowest ranked BCS team in a BCS Bowl: West Virginia (#23)
4 non-BCS bowls where both teams are ranked in the BCS top 25:

Ticketcity Bowl: #19 Houston vs. #22 Penn State
Capital One Bowl: #9 South Carolina vs. #20 Nebraska
Outback Bowl: #16 Georgia vs. #17 Michigan State
Cotton Bowl: #6 Arkansas vs. #8 Kansas State (Only Fiesta Bowl and National Title Game have higher combined ranked teams than the Cotton Bowl)

Worst average home attendance for bowl team: Northern Illinois – 15,209 fans per game (114th)
Lowest combined average home attendance for bowl game: Godaddy.com Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois (36,466)
Highest combined average home attendance for bowl game: National Title Game: Alabama vs. LSU (194,689)
Worst average home attendance for BCS bowl team: Stanford (49,997)
Highest average home attendance for non-BCS bowl team: Ohio State (105,231)
Highest average home attendance for a non bowl team: Tennessee (94,642)
Champs Sports Bowl: a matchup of former college football powerhouses who are now irrelevant on the national scene (Florida State vs. Notre Dame)
Gator Bowl: I know it’s not going to happen, but how many people would like to see Urban Meyer coach in this game? (Florida vs. Ohio State)
Beef O Brady’s Bowl: Talk about irony! The bowl game that Louisville played in last season is now the host to 2 teams that beat Louisville this season (Florida International vs. Marshall)

The Best And The Worst Of The Bowl Teams

Rushing Offense

Worst rushing offense for bowl team: Rutgers – 91.5 ypg (115th)
Best rushing offense for non-bowl team: Army – 350.91 ypg (1st)
Worst rushing offense for BCS bowl team: West Virginia – 117.75 ypg (100th)
Best rushing offense for BCS bowl team: Oregon – 295.69 ypg (5th)

Passing Offense

Worst passing offense for bowl team: Temple – 123.25 ypg (117th)
Best passing offense for non-bowl team: Arizona – 370.75 ypg (3rd)
Worst passing offense for BCS bowl team: Michigan – 187.42 ypg (90th)
Best passing offense for BCS bowl team: Oklahoma State – 386.25 ypg (2nd)

Total Offense

Worst total offense for bowl team: Utah – 308.67 ypg (110th)
Best total offense for non-bowl team: Texas Tech – 470.58 ypg (14th)
Worst total offense for BCS bowl team: LSU – 375.31 ypg (75th)
Best total offense for BCS bowl team: Oklahoma State – 557 ypg (3rd)

Scoring Offense

Worst scoring offense for bowl team: Penn State – 19.75 ppg (110th)
Best scoring offense for non-bowl team: USC – 35.75 ppg (17th)
Worst scoring offense for BCS bowl team: Virginia Tech – 28.54 ppg (T-55th)
Best scoring offense for BCS bowl team: Oklahoma State – 49.33 ppg (2nd)

Rushing Defense

Worst rushing defense for bowl team: Wyoming – 230.08 ypg (115th)
Best rushing defense for non-bowl team: Connecticut – 85.67 ypg (4th)
Worst rushing defense for BCS bowl team: Oklahoma State – 180.08 ypg (84th)
Best rushing defense for BCS bowl team: Alabama – 74.92 ypg (1st)

Passing Defense

Worst passing defense for bowl team: Tulsa – 289.33 ypg (118th)
Best passing defense for non-bowl team: Tennessee – 177.83 ypg (12th)
Worst passing defense for BCS bowl team: Oklahoma State – 265.58 ypg (102nd)
Best passing defense for BCS bowl team: Alabama – 116.33 ypg (1st)

Total Defense

Worst total defense for bowl team: Baylor – 477.5 ypg (114th)
Best total defense for non-bowl team: Central Florida – 303.33 ypg (11th)
Worst total defense for BCS bowl team: Oklahoma State – 445.67 ypg (107th)
Best total defense for BCS bowl team: Alabama – 191.25 ypg (1st)

Scoring Defense

Worst scoring defense for bowl team: Baylor – 35.67 ppg (109th)
Best scoring defense for non-bowl team: Central Florida – 18.33 ppg (11th)
Worst scoring defense for BCS bowl team: West Virginia – 26.25 ppg (63rd)
Best scoring defense for BCS bowl team: Alabama – 8.83 ppg (1st)

The Best And The Worst Of The Bowl Players

Rushing

Best rusher in a bowl game: LaMichael James, Oregon – 149.64 ypg (1st)
Best rusher not in a bowl game: Bobby Rainey, Western Kentucky – 141.25 ypg (2nd)
Best unknown rusher in a bowl game: Ronnie Hillman, San Diego State – 138 ypg (3rd)

Passing

Best passer in a bowl game: Case Keenum, Houston – 392.23 ypg (1st)
Best passer not in a bowl game: Nick Foles, Arizona – 361.17 ypg (2nd)
Best unknown passer in a bowl game: Alex Carder, Western Michigan – 312.18 ypg (8th)
Best passer in a BCS bowl game: Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State – 360.67 ypg (3rd)

Receiving

Best receiver in a bowl game: Jordan White, Western Michigan – 137.17 ypg (1st)
Best receiver not in a bowl game: Nick Harwell, Miami (OH) – 129.55 ypg (3rd)
Best receiver in a BCS bowl game: Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State – 111.33 ypg (8th)

Scoring

Best scorer in a bowl game: Montee Ball, Wisconsin – 17.54 ppg (1st)
Best scorer not in a bowl game: Jens Alvernik, San Jose State – 8.89 ppg (20th)
Best unkown scorer in a bowl game: Bernard Pierce, Temple – 13.64 ppg (2nd)

All-Purpose

Best all-purpose player in a bowl game: Tavon Austin, West Virginia – 191.17 ypg (2nd)
Best all-purpose player not in a bowl game: Taveon Rogers, New Mexico State – 196.33 ypg (1st)
Best unknown all-purpose player in a bowl game: Eric Page, Toledo – 169.33 ypg (6th)

Tackling

Best tackler in a bowl game: Curnelius Arnick, Tulsa – 11.83 tpg (T-6th)
Best tackler not in a bowl game: Luke Kuechly, Boston College – 15.92 tpg (1st)
Best tackler in a BCS bowl game: Mike Taylor, Wisconsin – 10.54 tpg (13th)

Sacks

Best sack artist in a bowl game: Whitney Mercilus, Illinois – 1.21 spg (1st)
Best sack artist not in a bowl game: Trevardo Williams, Connecticut – 1.04 spg (2nd)
Best sack artist in a BCS bowl game: Courtney Upshaw, Alabama and Chase Thomas, Stanford – .71 spg (T-18th)
Best unknown sack artist in a bowl game: Brandon Joiner, Arkansas State – 1 spg (4th)

Interceptions

Best interceptor in a bowl game: David Amerson, North Carolina State – .92 ipg (1st)
Best interceptor not in a bowl game: Phillip Thomas, Syracuse – .6 ipg (2nd)
Best interceptor in a BCS bowl game: Morris Claiborne, LSU – .46 ipg (9th)
Best unknown interceptor in a bowl game: Larry Parker, San Diego State – .58 ipg (T-3rd)

Punting

Best punter in a bowl game: Shawn Powell, Florida State – 47 ypp (1st)
Best punter not in a bowl game: Bobby Cowan, Idaho – 46.41 ypp (2nd)
Best punter in a BCS bowl game: Brad Wing, LSU – 44.14 ypp (T-14th)
Best unknown punter in a bowl game: Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech – 46.31 ypp (3rd)

Punt Returns

Best punt returner in a bowl game: Joe Adams, Arkansas – 16.19 ypr (1st)
Best punt returner not in a bowl game: Devon Wylie, Fresno State – 15.38 ypr (4th)
Best punt returner in a BCS bowl game: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU – 16.15 ypr (2nd)
Best unknown punt returner in a bowl game: Rishard Matthews, Nevada – 13.35 ypr (6th)

Kickoff Returns

Best kickoff returner in a bowl game: Tyler Lockett, Kansas State – 35.19 ypr (1st)
Best kickoff returner not in a bowl game: John Evans, Western Kentucky – 32.17 ypr (2nd)
Best kickoff returner in a BCS bowl game: De’Anthony Thomas, Oregon – 27.68 ypr (13rd)
Best uknown kickoff returner in a bowl game: T. Y. Hilton, Florida International – 32 ypr (3rd)

Field Goals

Best field goal kicker in a bowl game: Randy Bullock, Texas A&M – 2.08 fgpg (1st)
Best field goal kicker not in a bowl game: Jens Alvernick, San Jose State – 2 fgpg (2nd)
Best field goal kicker in a BCS bowl game: Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State – 1.67 fgpg (T-9th)
Best unknown field goal kicker in a bowl game: Matt Weller, Ohio – 1.85 fgpg (4th)

Intriguing Matchups

Flag Party

Hawaii Bowl – Nevada and Southern Miss combine for 14.85 penalties per game

Not Much Work Needed From The Refs

Insight Bowl – Iowa and Oklahoma combine for 9.5 penalties per game

Ground Attack

Military Bowl – Air Force and Toledo combine for 541.5 rushing yards per game

Air Attack

Fiesta Bowl – Oklahoma State and Stanford combine for 659.25 passing yards per game

What Ground Attack?

Belk Bowl – Louisville and North Carolina State combine for 230.09 rushing yards per game

What Air Attack?

Gator Bowl – Florida and Ohio State combine for 314.25 passing yards per game

Lighting Up The Scoreboard

Fiesta Bowl – Oklahoma State and Stanford combine for 92.91 points per game

Light Duty For The Scoreboard

Fight Hunger Bowl – Illinois and UCLA combine for 46.6 points per game

Sloppy Game

Pinstripe Bowl: Iowa State and Rutgers have combined to have 60 turnovers this season

Taking Care Of The Ball

National Title Game: Alabama and LSU have combined to have just 20 turnovers this season

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