Date: January 1st, 2011
Venue: Citrus Bowl, Orlando Florida
Time: 1:.0 PM ET
Coverage: ESPN / ESPN HD
Teams: Alabama (9-3, 5-3 SEC) vs Michigan State (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten)

The Capital One Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Orlando, Florida at the Citrus Bowl, and previously known as the Tangerine Bowl (1947–1982) and the Florida Citrus Bowl (1983–2002). Financial services company Capital One has been the title sponsor of the bowl since 2001 when it was the Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl but with the exclusive Capital One Bowl moniker since 2003. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Champs Sports Bowl and Florida Classic.

The game is one of the oldest of the non-BCS bowls, next to the Gator Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic and Sun Bowl, beginning play in 1947. The first game played before an estimated crowd of 9,000. By 1952, the game was dubbed the “Little Bowl with the Big Heart,” because all the proceeds from the game went to charity.

Before 1968 the game featured matchups between schools throughout the South, often featuring the Ohio Valley Conference champion or other small colleges (though a few major colleges did play in the bowl during this early era as well). After becoming a major college bowl game, from 1968 through 1975 the bowl featured the Mid-American Conference champion against an opponent from the Southern Conference (through 1972), the SEC (1972–1973) or an at-large opponent (1975).

As the major football conferences relaxed restrictions on post-season play in the mid-1970s, the game went to a matchup between two at-large teams from major conferences, with one school typically (but not always) from the South. From 1987 to 1991 it featured the ACC Champion against an at large opponent. Since 1992, the game has featured one of the top teams from the Big Ten and the SEC.

Alabama’s quest for a second straight national championship ended back in November, but the Crimson Tide can still win 10 games for the third straight season when they take on Michigan State. Alabama coach Nick Saban was the Spartans’ head coach before going to LSU, and Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is a former assistant under Saban.

Here we can indlude some statistics of both teams. Is important to check this stats because despite a team have good numbers it does not mean that another team from another division (with less efficient numbers) could not win against the “good team”. Here are the stats for both of the teams in order to analyze them.

Alabama
Win-Lose: 9-3
Average Points: 34.6
Average Points Allowed: 14.1
Home Record: 6-1
Road Record: 3-2
Division Record: 3-2
Conference Record: 5-3

Michigan St
Win-Lose: 11-1
Average Points: 31.3
Average Points Allowed: 20.1
Home Record: 7-0
Road Record: 4-1
Division Record: 7-1
Conference Record: 7-1

Is also important to have a good idea of the performance of the key players of each team. Bellow there is a complete report of such performance which is useful to decide what team is in a better position to win the game.

Alabama Leaders
Passing: McElroy – 209-296, 2767 yds, 19 tds
Rushing: Ingram – 146 car, 816 yds, 11 tds
Receiving: Jones – 75 rec, 1084 yds, 7 tds

Michigan St Leaders
Passing: Cousins – 216-320, 2705 yds, 20 tds
Rushing: Baker – 195 car, 1187 yds, 13 tds
Receiving: Dell – 49 rec, 761 yds, 6 tds

Take the time to check at the LIVE LINES. They show important information about who the audience think that is going to be the winner of the game and that is the first clue that has to be taken on count in order to lay some action on the game. Take the chance to look at the odds and lay some action now. More line information here.

Open a NCAA Bowl Betting Account Here

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