We're back with a pair of bowl games today as the Little Caesars Bowl and the Belk Bowl kick off this afternoon. The Little Caesars Bowl used to be known as the Motor City Bowl, while the Belk Bowl used to be known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl and also the Continental Tire Bowl.
It would be nice if some of these bowls would come up with a general name and then added the sponsor in front of it, much like the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl or the FedEx Orange Bowl. Then at least we could know what's what year in and year out. I'm tempted to just come up with my own names that we will use here at Niners Nation. It would sound like gibberish to the rest of the world, but at least we would have a common understanding! I could probably just make up names and nobody would really give a crap.
Today's games do not appear to feature any first day talent, but there is some mid-round talent worth following in both games. After the jump, we'll take a brief look at the games and at the bottom we've got a rundown of the prospects courtesy of Mocking The Draft.
Little Caesars Bowl
At first glance this would seem to be another blah matchup of teams at or just above .500. However, upon further inspection, this could be the kind of pairing that turns into a nice little shootout. I enjoy strong defensive football, but if I have no rooting interest in a game, I am more inclined to hope for a shootout.
This game features two teams that averaged a combined 61 points per game this year. Western Michigan averaged 35 points per game for the season and over 50 points per game over their last four games. They struggled in a pair of Big Ten games this season, but face a Purdue team that can struggle plenty on defense.
Here is a rundown of some of the notable players on each team:
Little Caesars Bowl; Detroit, MI | |||||
Western Michigan vs. Purdue (ESPN/ESPN3, 4:30pm) | |||||
White | Jordan | WR | Sr. (RS) | W. Michigan | 5-UD |
Wiggins | Doug | FS | Sr. (RS) | W. Michigan | 7-UD |
O'Neill | Dann | OT | Jr. | W. Michigan | 5-UD |
Carder | Alex | QB | Jr. (RS) | W. Michigan | 6-UD |
Pettway | Demetrius | FS | Soph. | W. Michigan | N/A |
Brant | Devon | ILB | Fr. | W. Michigan | N/A |
Atkins | Rontavious | SS | Fr. | W. Michigan | N/A |
Evans | Albert | FS | Sr. | Purdue | 6-UD |
Short | Kawann | DT | Jr. (RS) | Purdue | 2-3 |
Beckford | Dwayne | 3-4ILB | Jr. (RS) | Purdue | 5-UD |
Holmes | Gabe | TE | Soph. (RS) | Purdue | 6-UD |
Bush | Gary | WR | Soph. (RS) | Purdue | 7-UD |
Allen | Ricardo | CB | Soph. | Purdue | N/A |
Gaston | Bruce | DT | Soph. | Purdue | N/A |
Russell | Ryan | DE | Fr. (RS) | Purdue | N/A |
Hunt | Akeem | RB | Fr. | Purdue | N/A |
Belk Bowl
The Belk Bowl features a pair of teams that struggled early in the season, but managed to close out strong. NC State secured their bowl berth with a wild 56-41 victory over Maryland that saw the Wolfpack score 42 unanswered points in the second half. The Louisville Cardinals won five of their last six games to finish the season 7-5. Neither is particularly productive on offense, but they do have some intriguing defensive draft prospects.
Here is a rundown of some of the notable players on each team:
Belk Bowl; Charlotte, NC | |||||
Louisville vs. North Carolina St. (ESPN/ESPN3, 8:00pm) | |||||
Chichester | Josh | TE | Sr. (RS) | Louisville | 6-UD |
Heyman | Dexter | OLB | Sr. | Louisville | 7-UD |
Anderson | Victor | RB | Sr. (RS) | Louisville | 7-UD |
Benavides | Mario | C | Jr. (RS) | Louisville | 2-4 |
Smith | Hakeem | SS | Soph. (RS) | Louisville | 2-3 |
Brown | Preston | ILB | Soph. | Louisville | N/A |
Bridgewater | Teddy | QB | Fr. | Louisville | N/A |
Parker | DeVante | WR | Fr. | Louisville | N/A |
Pryor | Calvin | FS | Fr. | Louisville | N/A |
Johnson | Andrew | CB | Fr. | Louisville | N/A |
Cole | Audie | ILB | Sr. (RS) | North Carolina St. | 3-5 (↑) |
Sweezy | J.R. | DT | Sr. (RS) | North Carolina St. | 5-UD |
Bryan | George | TE | Sr. (RS) | North Carolina St. | 7-UD |
Graham | T.J. | WR | Sr. | North Carolina St. | 7-UD (↑) |
Manning | Terrell | OLB | Jr. (RS) | North Carolina St. | 2-4 |
Mattes | R.J. | OT | Jr. (RS) | North Carolina St. | 6-UD |
Bishop | Brandan | FS | Jr. | North Carolina St. | 6-UD |
Wentz | Camden | C | Jr. | North Carolina St. | 7-UD |
Slay | Brian | DT | Jr. | North Carolina St. | 7-UD |
Wolff | Earl | SS | Jr. (RS) | North Carolina St. | 7-UD |
Amerson | David | CB | Soph. | North Carolina St. | N/A |
Crisp | Rob | OT | Soph. | North Carolina St. | N/A |
Greene | Mustafa | RB | Soph. | North Carolina St. | N/A |
Johnson | Dontae | FS | Soph. | North Carolina St. | N/A |
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