Bethune-Cookman Wins Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Classic, 26-16
This season, pick who you think will win the Capital One Bowl Game of the Week and WIN! Answer the question on the Capital One Bowl Facebook page before Saturday’s game. If you pick correctly, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to the Capital One Bowl on January 2, 2012!
Michigan leads the series 3-2-1 (last meeting: December 28, 2005; Nebraska 32, Michigan 28)
The No. 19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten) travel to Ann Arbor to take on the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten) in a battle for position in the Big Ten Legends Division. With just two weeks left, Michigan and Nebraska are tied for second place behind Michigan State for a chance to appear in the inaugural Big Ten title game. A win this weekend might not earn either team a spot in Indianapolis, but could keep them in the hunt for a bid to the Capital One Bowl.
Nebraska enters the week after an emotional 17-14 win against Penn State last weekend. The Huskers stopped the Nittany Lions at fourth-and-one as time expired in Happy Valley, moving their road record this year to 3-1. They are No. 2 in the conference behind Wisconsin in scoring offense (32.9 points per game) and rushing (232.7 yards per game). Junior running back Rex Burkhead is the go-to guy for the Huskers, averaging over 21 carries per game for 107.2 yards. His 14 rushing touchdowns account for half of the team’s scoring on the ground.
The Wolverines earned a 31-14 victory in their final away game of the season again Illinois last weekend, but it came with a cost. Backup quarterback Devin Gardner stepped in for offensive star Denard Robinson after UM’s star player suffered a bruised wrist in the third quarter. Gardner found Martavious Odoms for a key fourth-quarter touchdown to secure the win. Robinson is expected to play on Saturday. The Wolverines rank just behind Nebraska in scoring offense (32.5 points per game) and rushing (231.3 yards per game). They are second in the conference in scoring defense allowing only 15.5 points per game, and that improved defense has helped the team to a 6-0 home record.
Extra point: This is the first regular season game between the two schools since 1962, when the Cornhuskers beat the Wolverines 25-13 in Bob Devaney’s first season as head coach. Their most recent meetings were in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl and the 2005 Alamo Bowl.
Expert Picks
Michel Champagne currently serves as Chairman of Florida Citrus Sports, where his duties include leading Team Selection Committee. He is the Vice President of Operations and General Manager, Orlando Region for Bright House Networks.
Pick: Michigan
Season Record: 12-6
Greg Warmoth spent 11 years as the weekend sports anchor for WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando before switching to the news desk in 1997. He currently anchors Eyewitness News Daybreak, Eyewitness News This Morning on TV-27 and Eyewitness News at Noon.
Pick: Michigan
Season Record: 11-7
Marc Daniels hosts The Beat Of Sports on ESPN 1080 AM in Orlando every weekday morning from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Daniels has over 20 years of experience on the air and is most well known as “the Voice of the UCF Knights” for all football, men’s basketball and baseball games on the UCF ISP Sports Network.
Pick: Michigan
Season Record: 12-6
Jerry Greene spent 33 years as a sportswriter at Florida Today, the Pensacola News Journal and the Orlando Sentinel before retiring in 2009. He now co-hosts The Beat of Sports with Daniels and contributes to ESPN.com’s Page 2 section.
Pick: Nebraska
Season Record: 7-11