2010 Champs Sports Bowl Game: Time, Location, History And More

To help prime you for Tuesday’s college football doubleheader, we’ve compiled this handy list of fun factoids concerning the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl.

Proper name: Champs Sports Bowl. Simple, direct, and understandable, right up until you start talking about the Champs Sports Bowl Champs. It’s remembering the current title that’s the real problem. Previous iterations of this particular postseason contest include the Blockbuster Bowl, Carquest Bowl, the MicronPC Bowl, the Mazda Bowl and the Tangerine Bowl. No, not the Tangerine Bowl that became the Citrus Bowl and then the Capital One Bowl. The other Tangerine Bowl. Got that?
Setting: Not Miami! Further compounding matters is the game’s former home in south Florida and current setting in Orlando, at the Citrus Bowl.
Traditional conference pairing: ACC versus Big East
2010 matchup: The No. 22 West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) versus the North Carolina State Wolfpack (8-4)
Announcers: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore, and Rob Stone. Tessitore will, at some point during the third quarter, put a scheme in motion to escape the broadcast booth and invade EPCOT to rifle through Spaceship Earth attendants’ unmentionables in a very special episode of Storm the Dorm. Do not attempt to detain him, and keep your fingers away from his teeth.
Neatest fact: This game’s MVPs, throughout its patchwork history, include noted crankpot Philip Rivers (twice), a punter (Graham Gano, then of Florida State), Steve Taneyhill’s mullet, and historically terrible Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball.
Closest finish: The Champs Sports Bowl has been decided by a field goal on two occasions, most recently in Boston College’s 24-21 win over Michigan State in 2007.
Most lopsided finish: The year was 1999. Britney Spears was enjoying the spoils of her debut hit single. And Illinois could still do things like beat Virginia 63-21 in a bowl game.
Tidbits of interest: The late, celebrated natural turf of the Citrus Bowl field, since replaced with sturdy plastic, will live forever in our hearts among the least helpful surfaces on which to play a game of football in recorded human history. No matter the weather, you’re going to get an earful about the poor field conditions contributing to the history of the game. The sorry state of that turf cannot be exaggerated by any means of hyperbole we currently possess: Bill Stewart could whittle a smoother plane out of a knotty piece of cedar, blindfolded. (Shortly before halftime, he will be spotted attempting to do just that, as Geno Smith attempts a swing pass to himself.)
The 2010 Champs Sports Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. EST, Tuesday, December 28. The game will be televised on ESPN. For a complete list of bowls, browse our 2010 college football postseason schedule.