ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
vs.
FLORIDA GATORS
Wednesday, Jan. 2 • 8:30 p.m.
Mercedez-Benz Superdome
(72,000/FieldTurf)
New Orleans, La.
Television - WATCH LIVE
ESPN
Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Quint Kessenich
ESPN Deportes
Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega
National Radio
ESPN Radio
Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell and Allison Williams
Louisville Radio
WHAS-AM 840 (flagship)
THE GAME
Louisville and Florida will meet in the 79th edition of the Allstate Sugar Bowl … The Sugar Bowl was played at Tulane Stadium from 1935-74 and moved to its current home, the Mercedez-Benz Superdome for the 1975 edition … The only time the Sugar Bowl was played outside New Orleans was in 2006, when the Georgia Dome hosted the event in the wake of Hurricane Katrina … The last appearance by a BIG EAST team in the Sugar Bowl was in the 2009-10 game, when Cincinnati fell to Florida … This year’s game between Louisville and Florida will mark the fourth time that the BIG EAST representative will have faced the Gators in the Sugar Bowl … Louisville head coach Charlie Strong served as an assistant at Florida on four occasions for a combined 14 years — from 1983-84, 1988-89, 1991-94 and 2003-09 … This year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl will be the third meeting between Louisville and Florida and the first postseason game between the schools … Florida is 2-0 against Louisville, with the last meeting coming in 1992 … The BIG EAST is 7-7 all-time in BCS games.
CURRENT BIG EAST SCHOOLS
IN THE SUGAR BOWL
1-1-35 Tulane 20, Temple 14
1-2-56 Georgia Tech 7, Pittsburgh 0
1-1-65 LSU 13, Syracuse 10
1-1-77 Pittsburgh 27, Georgia 3
1-1-82 Pittsburgh 24, Georgia 20
1-1-88 Syracuse 16, Auburn 16
1-1-10 Florida 51, CINCINNATI 24
22/18 LOUISVILLE (10-2)
Head Coach
Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas ’82)
26-10, third season at Louisville
26-11, third full season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Louisville was the preseason favorite in the BIG EAST and the Cardinals lived up to their billing by claiming a share of the conference title for the second straight year … Louisville is making its first appearance in the Sugar Bowl and its second appearance in a BCS game … The Cardinals won the 2007 Orange Bowl by defeating Wake Forest 24-13 … The Cardinals trailed Rutgers 14-3 at halftime in the regular-season finale, but got the game-winning field goal from K John Wallace with 1:41 left in what amounted to a winner-take-all game for the BIG EAST’s BCS bid … Louisville was ranked No. 21 in the final BCS standings … The Cardinals have won 10 games for the fifth time in school history and the fourth time since 2001 … Five of Louisville’s 10 wins were decided by five points or less … QB Teddy Bridgewater was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year after he threw for 3,452 yards and 25 touchdowns in the regular season … Bridgewater closed the regular season by coming off the bench to throw two touchdown passes against Rutgers in the come-from-behind win, despite playing with a fractured wrist (to his non-throwing hand) and a sprained ankle … C Mario Benavides was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center … Bridgewater and Benavides join WR DeVante Parker as All-BIG EAST First Team selections on offense … Parker had 38 receptions for 712 yards and nine touchdowns in the regular season … CB Adrian Bushell was the lone defensive player to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team … LB Preston Brown, S Hakeem Smith and S Calvin Pryor were All-BIG EAST Second Team selections, along with OT Alex Kupper.
2012 RESULTS
September
2 Kentucky W 32-14
8 Missouri State W 35-7
15 North Carolina W 39-34
22 at Florida International W 28-21
29 at Southern Mississippi W 21-17
October
13 at PITTSBURGH W 45-35
20 USF W 27-25
26 CINCINNATI W ot 34-31
November
3 TEMPLE W 45-17
10 at SYRACUSE L 26-45
24 CONNECTICUT L 3ot 20-23
29 at RUTGERS W 20-17
January
2 vs. Florida 8:30 p.m.
BIG EAST games in CAPS
4/4 FLORIDA (11-1)
Head Coach
Will Muschamp (Georgia ’94)
18-7, second season
NOTES
Florida is making its ninth appearance in the Sugar Bowl and will play in a January bowl game for the eighth straight year — the longest active streak in the nation … The Gators are 3-5 all-time in the Sugar Bowl, most recently scoring a 51-24 win against Cincinnati in 2010 … Florida has won five BCS games, which ties USC and Ohio State for the most wins in the Bowl Championship Series … The Gators are making their 40th appearance in a bowl game and their 22nd consecutive postseason appearance — good for second nationally among active bowl appearances (31, Florida State) … Florida was ranked No. 3 in the final BCS standings of 2012 … The Gators’ only loss was a 17-9 setback to Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla. … … The NCAA rated Florida’s 2012 schedule as the toughest in the nation … The Gators beat seven bowl-eligible teams and went 4-1 against teams in the top 12 of the final BCS standings … Florida takes a four-game winning streak into the Sugar Bowl … The Gators, who went 6-6 in 2011, improved by five wins in the 2012 regular season by going 11-1 … That marked the school’s best turnaround since 1980, when the Gators were 7-4 after going 0-10-1 the previous year … Florida is one of the nation’s top defensive teams … The Gators rank third nationally in points allowed (12.9 ppg), fifth in yards allowed (283.4 ypg) and first in pass efficiency defense (91.59) … The top player is CB Matt Elam, a first-team Associated Press and Sports Illustrated All-America selection … Elam had four interceptions in the regular season and registered 65 tackles with 10 tackles for loss, one sack, four pass breakups and one forced fumble … K Caleb Sturgis and DT Sharrif Floyd were both named to the AP All-America Third Team.
2012 RESULTS
September
1 Bowling Green W 27-14
8 at TEXAS A&M W 20-17
15 at TENNESSEE W 37-20
22 KENTUCKY W 38-0
October
6 LSU W 14-6
13 at VANDERBILT W 31-17
20 SOUTH CAROLINA W 44-11
27 vs. GEORGIA L 9-17
November
3 MISSOURI W 14-7
10 Louisiana W 27-20
17 Jacksonville State W 23-0
24 at Florida State W 37-26
January
2 vs. Louisville 8:30 p.m.
Southeastern Conference games in CAPS
