Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

Broncos get a shot at the Big 10

The Little Caesars Bowl pits Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference against Purdue of the Big 10. The game will be played in Detroit MI on Tuesday 27 Dec. 2011 at 4:30 PM

Western Michigan finished the regular season 7 and 5 overall and finished third in the MAC Conference Western Division. Head coach Bill Cubit is in his 7th season. His overall record is 40 -33, and his MAC record is 29-18.

Western Michigan lost to Illinois of the Big 10 conference by only 3 pints at Illinois in their 4th game of the season. The next game they were able to defeat Connecticut of the Big East 38-31 at Connecticut. Their worst losses were at Northern Illinois 51-22 and at home to Toledo 45-21 In their final regular season game Western Michigan trounced Akron 68-19.

Second year starting junior quarterback Alex Carder leads the potent offense of Western Michigan. In 2011 Carder completed 299 passes in 448 attempts for 3434 yards. He threw 28 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Against Connecticut Carder threw for a school record 497 yards. He has 5 career 400 yard games. Carder is a Manning Award candidate and was selected to the second All MAC team.

Senior wide receiver, Jordan White is the favorite target of quarterback Alex Carder.White leads the nation with 127 receptions. His 1646 yards also leads the nation. Jordan White needs only 110 yards to break the MAC all time receiving record. In addition, White scored 16 touch downs in 2011. Jordan White was selected to the 2011 American Football Coaches Association All -America team. He also won the Biletnikoff Award. White is projected to be an NFL first round pick.

Purdue head coach, Danny Hope guided the team to a 4-4 Big Ten record and 6-6 overall in 2011. Purdue finished third in the Big Ten Leaders Division behind Wisconsin and Penn State. Hope's coaching record at Purdue is 15-21. His all time head coaching record is 50-43.

Purdue had an up and down year in 2011. They lost their second game of the season at Rice 24-22 The next game they defeated Southern Missouri 59-0. In the Big 10 Purdue lost at Penn State by only 5 points. They beat 24th ranked Illinois by a td the following game. They gave up a school record 62 points in a one sided loss at Wisconsin. At home the next week Purdue nipped Ohio State 26-23 in overtime.

Purdue junior quarter back, Caleb Terbush, started every game in 2011 for the Boilermakers. He was academically ineligible in 2010. In 2011 Terbush completed 163 passes in 264 attempts for 1804 yards. He threw for 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

Leading running back Ralph Bolden tore an acl on a 32 yard pass reception against Indiana Now. 26 and is out for the season. Akeen Shavers who carried 89 times for 370 yards will be one of the backs replacing Bolden.

Antavian Edison is the leading receiver for Purdue with 43 receptions for 561 yards and 3 tds. He also rushed 36 times for 130 yards. Wide receiver Justin Siller had 45 receptions for 430 yards. Third leading receiver, OJ Ross, has been suspended indefinitely for violating team policy and rules.

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl Overview

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl will be will be played in Detroit, Michigan at Ford Field Stadium. The yearly event has been held since 1997 with one team from the Big Ten, another from MAC with the Sun Belt as alternates. Each teams is given a flat $750,000 per team for the game. The 65,000 seat stadium, in downtown Detroit, is home to the NFL's Detroit Lions. The stadium also hosted Super Bowl XL.

The teams playing in the bowl will be from the Mid-American Conference vs a team from the Big Ten Conference. If the Big Ten fails to have an eligible team then a team from the Big East will be invited. This team must meet all NCAA requirements including a minimum of six wins. If there is not a team in the Big East that qualifies then an at-large team is selected.

The bowl was originally sponsored by the three major automakers in Detroit: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. They sponsored the event until 2007. The following year Chrysler was replaced by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights. In 2009 Little Caesar took over the title sponsorship while Ford remained a sponsor. The game was the first bowl game in Detroit since the 1984-85 season when the Cherry Bowl was held there. Today it stands as the lone Division 1 college bowl game in the Midwest.

The 2009 bowl featured the Ohio Bobcats against the Marshall Thundering Herd. The Thundering Herd took a 21-17 win over Ohio in front of 30,331 fans. Martin Ward, RB for the Marshall team, was named the MVP. Since the beginning of the bowl Marshall has had the most presence in the games with five appearances and a 4-1 record. Next was Central Michigan and Toledo each with three appearances and a 1-2 record.

Since Little Caesars Pizza has taken over the bowl this means there is a new logo along with several events around the game. This will include a pizza party followed by a Christmas night dinner. The dinner will include former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr along with George Perles the coach from Michigan State. Carr has also been named the president of the bowl.

The owner of Little Caesar's as well as the Detroit Tigers, Mike Ilitch said the bowl is a great way to offer a fun experience for families as well as college football fans. He also said he believes it a worthwhile way to support college athletics. Aside from the name sponsorship Little Caesar's receives there is also a national promotion along with the game week activities. Last year, when Little Caesar's had their first year of sponsorship they also celebrated their 50th year of pizza making.

As the 2010 bowl draws nearer Little Caesar's is gearing up for their promotions. They will provide customer promotions that will include the chance for customers to win tickets to the national bowl. This will include airfare, hotel, and the game.

The Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl game preview betting lines & odds will be released upon the completion of the college football regular season after the selection show when the teams are given their bowl berths. Cardinals vs 49ers, Jets vs Bills, Lions vs Bears, Ravens vs Bengals are some of the great matchups we cover every week with our NFL game previews, as part of our NFL odds. If you enjoy our college fame previews make sure to check out all the great matchups for the NFL every weekend.