2012 Russell Athletic Bowl
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| 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Florida Citrus Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Orlando, Florida | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Antone Exum, Virginia Tech | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Virginia Tech by 2½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Scott Novak (Big 12) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 48,127 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Joe Tessitore (play-by-play) Matt Millen (analyst) Maria Taylor (sideline reporter) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.5[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
The 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game held on December 28, 2012, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida in the United States. This was the first under the Russell Athletic moniker after eight game under Champs Sports. The 23rd edition of the Russell Athletic Bowl began at 5:30 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It featured the Big East Conference co-champion Rutgers Scarlet Knights against the Virginia Tech Hokies from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Hokies accepted their invitation after achieving a 6–6 record in the regular season, while the Scarlet Knights accepted theirs after achieving a 9–3 record.[2]
This was the first Russell Athletic Bowl for both teams.
Rutgers
This was the fifteenth meeting between these two teams. Virginia Tech leads the all-time record 12–3. The last time they played was in 2003. The teams were conference rivals in the old Big East Conference from 1991 to 2003.
The Scarlet Knights finished in a four-way tie for the Big East title with a 5–2 conference record (holding the tiebreaker over the Syracuse Orange and Cincinnati Bearcats but behind the Louisville Cardinals. After losing to said Cardinals in their season finale, the Scarlet Knights accepted an invitation to the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl.
Virginia Tech
A disastrous season by Virginia Tech standards, the Hokies were in danger of being bowl-ineligible for the first time since 1992. However, in their final two games the Hokies defeated their rivals the Boston College Eagles as well as Commonwealth Cup rivals the Virginia Cavaliers, finishing 6–6 and becoming bowl-eligible.
