There may be no more interesting bowl game this year (other than the BCS National Championship of course) than the Texas Bowl. Baylor (7-5, 4-4 Big 12) will face off against the University of Illinois (6-6, 4-4 Big Ten) in a match-up that can only be billed as two teams who are finally back in the postseason. Both the Bears and the Illini have had some epic struggles the last few years and for both this is a sign for their respective head coaches that what they are trying to accomplish is actually working.
Baylor comes into the game know that this is the first bowl bid they have received since entering the Big 12 a little over a decade ago. While there may be some sting in the way the team finished the season after being an early leader in the Big 12 South standings, just getting to a bowl after such a long drought ought to remove much griping.
Still Baylor does not come into this game playing their best football. The bears once stood at a sparkling 7-2 before losing to Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma by 55-28, 42-30 and 53-24 scores respectively. The Bears need to right their defensive ship if they want to notch a victory in their first bowl game in the 21st century.
Meanwhile, Illinois probably saved their head coach’s job. Ron Zook knew he was on the hot seat when he came into the season, having cleaned house of most of his assistants another abysmal season would likely mean the end of the line in Champaign. Having to replace a four year starter in Juice Williams seemed like a difficult way to get to a bowl but freshman quarterback Nate Scheelhaase was up to the task and put up solid if not spectacular dual threat numbers.
Over the course of the season, Scheelhaase threw for 1,583 yards and 17 touchdowns while running for over 800 yards and four TDs. As the season wore on, it was clear Illinois’ real offensive star was Mikel LeShoure who finished the regular season with over 1,500 yards on the ground and 14 touchdowns.
Like Baylor, Illinois got off to a solid start to the season, only to fade down the stretch. After reaching the cusp of bowl eligibility (5-3) at the end of October, Illinois dropped a couple of heartbreakers in a 67-65 loss to Michigan and an embarrassing 38-34 defeat to Minnesota. The Illini finally reached bowl eligibility with their Wrigley Field win over rival Northwestern 48-27.
As if to show that the team still has a ways to go before it can be considered anything other than “pretty good”, the Illini dropped their regular season finale to Fresno State, 25-23. Illinois was actually in position to tie the game early in the fourth quarter after a 21 yard rush by Scheelhaase but they could not complete the two point conversion.
There are presently 25,000 season ticket holders and the 2009 bowl sold 50,000 tickets before the two teams were announced last year. The last few years has seen the Texas Bowl donate more than $200,000 and more than five million dollars in promotional support and publicity to DePelchin Children's Center. This is the bowl's official charitable beneficiary.
In 2010 the Texas Bowl hosted the Navy Midshipmen and the Missouri Tigers. The Navy sunk the Tigers, 35-13. More than 57,000 fans watched the game at Reliant Stadium. Ricky Dobbs, from the Navy team, was named the MVP. It was the Navy's first appearance in the Bowl. Other teams, including Rice, Rutgers, and TCU have each played once in the bowl game and have a 1-0 record. Houston, Kansan State, Missouri, and Western Michigan have also played one time in the bowl and each team has a 0-1 record.
This will be the first year that the Texas Bowl will have two of the strong conferences against one another. The bowl also moved up in the selection order among Big 12 affiliated bowls. This year they will have the fifth choice after the BCS bowls are announced. This moves them up two notches after they have held the seventh choice during the previous four years.
The first Texas Bowl pitted Rutgers against Kansas State. Rutgers went on for a 37-10 win over Kansas. The more than 52,000 fans in attendance made it the largest crowd to watch a bowl game in Houston, when a Texas team was not playing, since 1972. The following year the University of Houston was defeated by TCU, 20-13. More than 60,000 fans watched their home team favorites lose. It was the third largest crowd to watch a college bowl game in Houston. It was also the eight largest crowd among non-BCS bowls that year.
Reliant Stadium, which is home to the NFL's Houston Texans, opened in 2002. It is capable of seating 71,500 fans. It is one of the newest stadiums - opening in 2002. It has the most state of the art facilities of any of the stadiums in the U.S. It is the first in the U.S. to offer a retractable roof.
Take a look at our pro football game previews like the Texans vs Cowboys, the Colts vs Titans, the Lions vs Vikings or any of your favorite matchups within our NFL odds section in the sportsbook if you've been liking our college bowl previews. We will have a Texas Bowl game preview when our Texas Bowl odds and Texas Bowl betting options are released at the conclusion of the regular NCAA Football season.
