As bowl season begins to wind down, we continue our look at each and every bowl to prepare make you, dear reader, the most knowledgeable college football fan in the land. Up next: The 2011 Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.
2011 Orange Bowl: TV Time, Location, History And More
Proper name: The Discover Orange Bowl, formerly known as the FedEx Orange Bowl. The package-carrier’s loss is the financial institutions gain.
Setting: Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, home to the Florida Marlins, Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes.
Traditional conference pairing: ACC versus BCS at-large
2010 matchup: The No. 4 Stanford Cardinal (11-1) versus the No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies (11-2).
Announcers: The bickering Monday Night Football crew: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski and Michele Tafoya on the sidelines.
Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 79 and a low of 61. Beautiful football weather in Miami.
Neatest fact: Sticking with the turf theme, the name of the real turf inside Sun Life Stadium is Prescription Athletic Turf. I don’t know why the grass is prescription strength, but it is.
Closest finish: The Orange Bowl has seen six one-point games, the latest of which came in 2000 when Michigan beat Alabama, 35-34.
Most lopsided finish: Alabama easily dispatched Syracuse in the 1953 Orange Bowl, 61-6.
Tidbits of interest: Oklahoma has appeared in the Orange Bowl a whopping 18 times, followed closely by Nebraska’s 17 appearances. Former MVPs include Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, “Rocket” Ismail and Turner Gill. Virginia Tech has appeared in the Orange Bowl three times, going 1-2. The Hokies only win came in their last appearance, a 2009 win over Cincinnati. Stanford has never appeared in the Orange Bowl.
The 2011 Orange Bowl kicks off at 8:30 p.m. EST, Monday, January 3. The game will be televised on ESPN. For a complete list of bowls, browse our 2010 college football postseason schedule
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