2011-2012 Bowl Game Scores, Schedules, Picks And More

Part II of this series ended with Georgia’s classic victory over Virginia in the 1998 Peach Bowl. In our final installment, we take a look back at all the bowls that will take place on Jan. 2 or later this year and find the best game for each.

In order to maintain consistency, the year noted in each bowl game will be the season it represents: For example, the Rose Bowl in 1962 is actually the game that was played on Jan. 1, 1963. Also, from 1998-2005, the games that were designated as the BCS national championship game will be considered only for the BCS title game, and not for that particular bowl game.

Red Wolves quarterback Aplin threw three interceptions, marring a night on which he threw for 352 yards and a touchdown and ran for another.

For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs. For more on Northern Illinois, keep it locked to SB Nation Chicago and our Huskies team blog, Red and Black Attack. For more on Mid-American Conference football, visit Hustle Belt.

This should make for the fourth top-five poll finish in program history.

SI.com: Cotton Bowl box score and Cotton Bowl FAQ

TICKETCITY BOWL: HOUSTON 30, PENN STATE 14. Closest to a dark global snuff film like Melancholia. Lars Von Trier movies always end with a dead woman, so change the standard plot a bit on this one. Instead of just one dead woman on the floor at the end of the film, Von Trier kills THE WHOLE WORLD, and in the end seems pretty dispassionate about it.

If none of this makes any sense to you, we will explain. Penn State lost this game in the first quarter when Houston riddled the Nittany Lions’ defense full of holes, and then thought they might survive once Houston’s offense stagnated, and then hope disappeared altogether as the Cougars piled up points, possessions, and punts to Penn State’s bloodless offense. (We were going to say anemic, but anemic means “living, but iron-deficient.” Penn State’s offense is dead, and has been for quite some time.) Penn State is blown up. Then, there is silence.

SI.com: Orange Bowl box score and Orange Bowl FAQ.

Dana Holgorsen, who became the head coach of the ‘Eers after a rocky setup with previous coach Bill Stewart fell apart, has helped give West Virginia its third victory in a BCS bowl game.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

The question coming into this game was whether the Hokies even deserved to be in New Orleans. They certainly proved they can compete with anybody, but missed again in their efforts to add a noteworthy victory to their 2011 campaign.

If last season’s Fiesta Bowl was for all the Tostitos, the 2012 Fiesta Bowl was for all the touchdowns. Stanford and Oklahoma State combined for 79 points before the Cowboys prevailed in overtime, 41-38.

Playing for the game-winning field goal, it was just the second time this season that Stanford failed to score once it entered the red zone. Here’s video of the miss:

The Oregon Ducks have handed the Wisconsin Badgers their second Rose Bowl loss in a row in one of the highest-scoring games in Rose history (and one of the highest-scoring games of a HIGH-SCORY bowl season), 45-38. The Ducks left Russell Wilson only 16 seconds on the clock to attempt a comeback, but, as has been the case all year, the closing moments were not kind to the Badgers.

SI.com: Live Rose Bowl box score and Rose Bowl FAQ.

Michigan State came back from a 16-0 halftime deficit to win the program’s first bowl game under Mark D’Antonio, 33-30 over Georgia in triple overtime at the 2012 Outback Bowl.

Live Outback Bowl box score, Outback Bowl FAQ and Jan. 2 bowl TV schedule.

The 2012 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl was not where either Florida or Ohio State dreamed of finishing its 2011 season. But it was the Gators who got the 24-17 win in Jacksonville to avoid ending their season with a losing record.

The Gators improved to 7-6 on the year, and dodged their first losing season since 1979. For the Buckeyes, their 6-7 record makes 2011 the first year since 1897 that Ohio State has had seven losses.

Keenum got the Cougars off to a fast start while leading his team to scores on their first three possessions. The Cougars jumped out to a 17-0 lead following a pair of touchdown passes from Keenum and never led by fewer than 10 points after that. Although the Cougars were held out of the endzone and Keenum was stopped from essentially rewriting the record book (he did set a record for most completions in a bowl game) during the second half, they were able to move the ball whenever they needed to and avoided any turnovers.

Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl. Purdue 37, Western Michigan 32: The comedy of errors hasn’t waned in popularity, but its quality really has taken a dive in the 21st century. The most popular of these in recent years? The Meet The Parents series, a long series of horrendous situations of people behaving stupidly and badly to each other in general and to Ben Stiller specifically. (Not that Ben Stiller doesn’t deserve to be treated badly, but that’s not the point.)

There were 10 turnovers total in the Little Caesar’s Bowl, each one as inane, obvious, and cruel as the gags in Meet The Parents. The point of this review? That people who enjoy these movies are closet sadists, the kind of people who use humor and casual games of volleyball as diverts for their unreleased desire to harm and see others harmed. Did you enjoy the Little Caesar’s Bowl, too? Then we’re never letting you make the choices on movie night OR standing between you and the tracks of a fully operational subway line, either.

The 2011 Liberty Bowl provided most of the points and excitement on the final day of the 2011 college football season that is actually part of 2011, and it gave the Cincinnati Bearcats the penultimate college football victory of 2011, in a 31-24 triumph over Vanderbilt.

The 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is over, and awareness has been raised both for the pressing cases of the millions who are underfed and the thousands (dozens?) of people who suffered through Illinois’ 20-14 victory.

On the bright side, Illinois’ victory means the Illini did win bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history, and also won their first game since October 8. Which is nice.

The win runs Utah coach Kyle Whittingham’s bowl record to 7-1.

For more on the Sun Bowl, visit Utah blog Block U and Georgia Tech blog From the Rumble Seat, plus SB Nation Atlanta and Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes.

Texas A&M tried to give away another big lead. Northwestern’s Cardiac Cats tried to stage another comeback. Neither happened in the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl, as the Aggies countered two late Northwestern touchdowns with a field goal to ice a 33-22 victory.

The Aggies, playing little more than a week after the death of offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio and in the last game most of fired head coach Mike Sherman’s staff will caoch at A&M, led 30-7 in the fourth quarter, and were on the verge of yet another collapse in a 2011 season full of them after Northwestern scored twice in the period.

On paper, the Insight Bowl was supposed to be one of the more lopsided bowls of the season. And though the Sooners did come away with a 17-point win, thanks to a 21-yard touchdown run by Blake Bell on fourth and one with under a minute to go, Iowa did make things interesting.

The Hawkeyes offense was all but dead for much of the game, until it sprung to life for two lengthy touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Through the first three quarters, Oklahoma was anything but dominant, yet still held a 21-0 lead. But back-to-back touchdown drives -- both of which were over 70 yards and double-digit plays -- brought the Hawkeyes right back into the game as Oklahoma clung to a 21-14 lead.

Vick Ballard’s touchdown runs of 60 and 72 yards were enough for a Mississippi State offense that committed four turnovers and managed little in the way of passing to compliment a stifling defense in a 23-17 win over Wake Forest in the 2011 American Mortgage Music City Bowl at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.

“Anytime you have adversity, the blocked field goal was really rough because as the game wound down towards the end of the game, that field goal became huge. We make that one, we are in much better shape,” Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said.

Playing at Yankee Stadium for the second time this season, Rutgers (9-4) won its fifth straight bowl game while frustrating an Iowa State offense that had trouble getting out of its own way.

For more on the Pinstripe Bowl, check out SB Nation’s Rutgers blog, On the Banks, and our Iowa State blog, Wide Right & Natty Lite. For more news and analysis from this bowl season, check out our college football hub.

Tulsa fumbled the ball away on a last-ditch desperation pass, sealing the 24-21 victory for BYU. Golden Hurricane quarterback G.J. Kinne played well in his final college game, going 17-for-31 passing for 210 yards and three touchdowns. He couldn’t overcome the constant pressure from the Cougars’ front seven, however, nor the complete ineffectiveness of his running game. Tulsa managed just 37 total yards on the ground.

Nelson went just 17-for-40 passing, including two interceptions thrown straight into the arms of waiting Tulsa defenders. Luckily, he had the 6-4 Hoffman on his side. The sophomore receiver caught eight passes for 122 yards in addition to his three scores, none bigger than the last one. The spike formation left Hoffman one-on-one with a defensive back, who he easily boxed out for the catch. That play would not have happened if not for a play made earlier on the drive by Nelson. Facing 4th-and-9 on the Tulsa 47-yard line Nelson improvised, tucking the ball in and breaking tackles on a 14-yard run to keep the game-winning drive alive.

Also falling: the all-time bowl touchdowns record, with 17 passing 16.

Early in the second half, there was a time Florida State had more return yardage that yards produced by its offense. The Notre Dame defense had held the Seminoles scoreless through the first half in 30 minutes of football that were better suited for napping than viewership. But in the second half, both teams came to life, and Florida State began to pile up the points.

Notre Dame opened up a 14-0 lead on an impressive juggling touchdown catch by Michael Floyd. At the time, it felt like Florida State was all but dead, unable to mount any kind of serious offensive charge and trailing by 14. But Notre Dame would go silent as the Seminoles put up 18 unanswered points -- 15 of which came in the fourth quarter -- to down the Fighting Irish in the Champs Sports Bowl, 18-14.

Picking up where we left off: Jim McMahon completing his Hail Mary pass to finish BYU’s amazing 21-point comeback in the final two and a half minutes of the 1980 Holiday Bowl. Here’s Part Two of our best game in each bowl’s history feature, from the Champs Sports Bowl through the Chick-fil-A Bowl:

Champs Sports Bowl (first played: 1990, this year: 22nd edition): This bowl evolved from Orange Bowl Junior to Citrus Bowl Junior in 2000, but none of the games quite had the strangeness of the 2009 contest between Miami and Wisconsin. Basically, a southern team got a taste of what things would feel like if bowl games were played up in the Rust Belt. With wintry conditions that sent the mercury to below 40 all over Florida, this game featured a Miami team that couldn’t get warm enough while the Badgers were as comfortable as they were at home. With John Clay running all over shivering Hurricanes defenders, Wisconsin held on for a 20-14 victory.