20 Facts About The AdvoCare V100 Bowl
By Joe Micik
Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
In twenty days, Boston College football will face the Arizona Wildcats for the first time ever in the 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl. To honor this happening, here are twenty facts about the game in which the Eagles will play.
1.) This game used to be called the Independence Bowl; it was known as such until last year, but the name converted to “AdvoCare V100 Bowl” this year.
2.) The reason this game, The Bowl Formerly Known As Independence, was called as such is because its inaugural game took place in 1976. Now, I wasn’t alive in 1976, but without use of a calculator gizmo, I can tell you that that was America’s bicentennial.
3.) This is the second time in three years that this particular bowl game has featured two major-conference opponents. Last season, it was Ohio University and Louisiana-Monroe.
4.) As everyone knows by now, the game takes place in Shreveport, Louisiana and always has.
5.) The 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl will be played in the same stadium as all of its predecessors: Independence Stadium, opened in 1925 as State Fair Stadium and renamed in 1981.
6.) Boston College football was reportedly a candidate to be invited to the inaugural 1976 Independence Bowl, but were passed over for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (after Rutgers rejected it).
7.) This year, a B-25 bomber will do a stadium fly-over at the conclusion of the national anthem.
8.) Speaking of the national anthem, it will be performed by a gentleman by the name of Cole Vosbury. Apparently, he was a contestant on “The Voice,” which explains why I’ve never heard of him.
9.) The official mission statement of the AdvoCare V100 Bowl is to “attract and provide quality, nationally recognized football competition oriented to the Ark-La-Tex region.” I think they did it this year.
10.) One reason why they have succeeded is because two of the best running backs in the nation, Heisman finalist Andre Williams and Ka’Deem Carey, are in it. That should be good for ratings.
11.) The AdvoCare V100 Bowl’s official tie-ins are ACC and SEC. Arizona, out of the Pac-12, was selected as an at-large.
12.) The most recent ACC team to play in this bowl before Boston College was North Carolina, who lost the game to Missouri in 2011.
13.) Before Arizona, the last Pac-10/12 team to play in this game was Oregon in 1993.
14.) These are both Boston College and Arizona’s first appearances in this particular bowl game.
15.) Three NFL Hall of Famers have played in this bowl game: Art Monk (1979), Bruce Smith (1984), and Willie Roaf (1990).
16.) Speaking of that 1990 game, it ended in a tie and was the only Independence Bowl to do so. Nobody would stand for such an injustice today.
17.) One of the teams involved in that tie was Maryland, Atlantic Coast Conference deserters.
18.) The per-team payout for this year’s game is expected to be about $1.15 million. Gimme some of that sweet bowl cash.
19.) This will be the first game Boston College has played in the State of Louisiana since October 24, 1992, when the Eagles beat Tulane at the Superdome in New Orleans.
20.) Tickets for this game range from $25 to $160, in case any Eagles fans are still looking to scoop up theirs.