What you need to know for Sunday's 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco (9:00 PM EDT, ESPN) ...
Proper name: "2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl," the only bowl named for a cause.
Date: Sunday, January 9, 2011
Time: 9:00 PM EDT
Setting: AT&T Park, San Francisco ... again.
College Football at AT&T Park: AT&T Park has been no stranger to hosting football games. In addition to hosting eight San Francisco bowl games, the park was the home of the XFL's San Francisco Demons (2001) as well as the UFL's California Redwoods (2009). The park also hosted the East-West Shrine game until 2006, and next season, all Cal home games will be played at the park as the school renovates California Memorial Stadium.
Traditional conference pairing: Pac 10 vs. WAC, but the Pac 10 was bowl-team deficient this year. Hence, the Eagles find themselves back in San Francisco for the second straight season.
2009 matchup: Boston College (8-4) vs. USC (8-4)
2011 matchup: Boston College (7-5) vs. Nevada (12-1, WAC Co-Champs)
Announcers: Mark Jones, Bob Davie, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich. Bob Davie? Noooooooooooooo! Your best bet? Mute these guys and turn on a local radio broadcast, or just go with the ESPN Radio crew (Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Bonnie Bernstein).
Previous Incarnations: It's the first Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl but it's actually the ninth straight postseason football game played in San Francisco. You may know this bowl as the San Francisco Bowl (2002), Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl (2002-2003) or the Emerald Bowl (2004-2009). BC has played in a record three bowl games in San Francisco, winning in 2003 (35-21 over Colorado State) and losing to USC last season (24-13).
Closest Finish: Close games are the exception rather than the rule for San Francisco's college football bowl game. Virginia Tech (2003), Oregon State (2007) and Cal (2008) own the smallest margin of victory in this bowl game -- just seven points. The average margin of victory is nearly two touchdowns (13.25).
Most Lopsided Finish: Utah smacked Georgia Tech upside the head in the 2005 version of this bowl, winning 38-10.
BC Trivia Tidbit #1: This will be the first-ever meeting between Nevada and Boston College. BC has never played a team from the state of Nevada.
BC Trivia Tidbit #2: Against teams that currently comprise the WAC, Boston College is 3-0 all-time, outscoring those opponents 111-42. That 3-0 record includes a 27-21 win over Boise State, a 24-21 win over Hawaii ... and a 60-0 victory over Idaho.
BC Trivia Tidbit #3: This will be the longest stretch of days between football games within one season for either program. BC will have waited 43 days between the Syracuse game and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, while Nevada will have waited 36 days. Six Saturdays will have come and gone between BC's regular season finale and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, enough weekends to hold a 64-team college football postseason tournament.