The Sugar Bowl

Reviatlized Wolverines and Denard take on Viginia Tech

The 2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl game will feature the first ever meeting between the University of Michigan Wolverines and Virginia Tech Hokies at the Superdome in New Orleans. #13 Michigan had a triumphant 10-2 season after only making one bowl game in the last three years under now head coach of Arizona Rich Rodriguez when they were embarrassed with a loss of 38 points by Mississippi State. First year head coach for the Wolverines, Brady Hoke, has brought back the Michigan traditions and has led his team through a successful season. #11 Virginia Tech finished an impressive season and holds a record of 11 wins and 2 losses. Va Tech is coming off a 38-10 loss in Saturday's ACC Championship. The Hokies' solid defense, which is ranked 8th overall in points against, has been a huge part of their success and will give Michigan's offense, is lead by sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson, one of its biggest challenges this season.

Ranked 12th overall in rushing yards with an average of 235.7 yards per game, Michigan's offense will be a great match up to the Hokies' defense. Denard Robinson is definitely a fun player to watch with his lightning quick moves which allowed him to gain 1163 on the ground in the 2011 season and his solid ability to make throws to his favorite receivers Roy Roundtree, Junior Hemmingway, and tight end Kevin Koger. Robinson has tallied 2056 yards passing and combined rushing and passing TDs of 34 for 2011. Sophomore running back Fitzgerald Toussaint has carried most of the load for the Wolverines' backfield. Fitzgerald has tallied 1011 yard and 9 trips to the end zone on 174 attempts.

The Hokies offense is powered by sophomore quarterback Logan Thomas. At 6'6" 254 pounds Logan has not only a towering stature but also towering throwing stats. Thomas has racked up 2799 passing yards and thrown 19 TDs. Thomas has also added 10 rushing touchdowns this season. Va Tech's senior wide receiver Danny Coale is the teams leading receiver for this season with 52 reception equalling 787 yards and 3 TDs. The Hokie's rushing game has contributed to its successful season thanks to junior running back David Wilson. Wilson's 1627 yards from 266 rushing attempts will have the Wolverine defense strategizing on how they will stop him.

Both teams' defenses are hard-nosed and bend but don't break defenses. The defenses for both team stack up equally in points allowed per game. Va Tech's defense is ranked 8th in overall in points against with an average 17.2. The Wolverine defense is ranked 7th in points against and allowed and average of 17.2 points per game.

Overall, on paper both teams stack up quite equally on both sides of the ball, but who wants it more. Several reports have stated the Va Tech was a bad choice for a BCS game when it lost the ACC Championship. The Hokies have something to prove and Michigan is hungry for a bowl game win. The Big Easy, Wolverine fans, Virginia Tech fans, and football fans around the country should be excited to watch this one on January 3rd.

The Sugar Bowl Overview

The Sugar Bowl is one of the oldest bowl games in college football history, coming in second to the Rose Bowl. Its first game was held on January 1, 1935 at Tulane Stadium, at the Tulane University campus . The idea for the Sugar Bowl was first brought to attention in 1927. A sports columnist, and a newspaper editor proposed the idea, after wanting to mimic the format of the Parade of Roses, that goes on annually in southern California.

They believed that they too should celebrate their warm weather, and wanted a game similar to the Rose Bowl. After 8 years of struggling, it finally happened. Tulan stadium at which they were playing had been built on top of an old sugar cane plantation, and this is how the name "Sugar Bowl", that they still use today, had come about.

The Sugar Bowl continued without much controversy until the year of 1956. In that years game, Pitt star Bobby Grier became the first African American collegiate football player to break the color barrier, and he was playing against Georgia Tech. At that time, the state of Georgia was still opposed to integration, which is why this game was so controversial. Georgia Tech had won that game 7-0.

After that game the Sugar Bowl continued play at Tulane Stadium, until 1975, where it was then moved to the Louisiana Superdome (the home of many Super Bowl games) in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the year 2006, the game was moved to the Georgia Dome for just that year, because of the extensive damage done to the Superdome, by the natural disaster Hurricane Katrina.

Before the BCS collaboration and formation, the Sugar Bowl had normally hosted the Southeastern (SEC) champions, and then paired them up against a top tier top 5 opponent.

After the BCS gathering, the Sugar Bowl still has rights, and takes the SEC champions, unless they are to qualify for the National Championship game. If that is to happen, they will then get two other top tier teams, and choose one of those teams as the hos. The Sugar Bowl has been consistently known for decades as one of the most prestigious bowl games in the NCAA. It is among the top 4 BCS bowl games played annually, and is usually played on New Years day.

Over the last couple decades, the Sugar Bowl has changed sponsors. From USF&G Financial Services, to Nokia, and now Allstate Insurance. The Sugar Bowl is in a rotation to host the National Championship game every 4 years, which is another reason it is so attractive to sponsors. The current pay out per team in the Sugar Bowl is around 17 million dollars. The Sugar Bowl is a tradition in not only NCAA football history, but also in American history, Going strong for over 75 years, the Sugar Bowl will likely be around for many years to come.

Enjoying our college football bowl game previews? Take a gander at our NFL game previews as well like the Cowboys vs Giants, the Eagles vs Redskins, the Lions vs Packers or any of your favorite matchups. In our NFL odds section you can also check the sportsbook betting trends to see which way the public is leaning towards on the actual betting lines. Our Sugar Bowl Odds and Sugar Bowl betting options will be available along with our Sugar Bowl game preview at the end of November upon completion of the NCAA college football season.