Fact Fondue - Western Michigan Broncos; Bowl Edition

The Boilers are going bowling in the north; call it an insult, call it a lower tier bowl, but dammit - WE'RE PLAYING FOOTBALL AFTER NOVEMBER!

...right.

We're going to the Little Caesar's Bowl in Detroit, Michigan. For those of you playing at home, yes, we went to the Motor City bowl in 2007; this is the same bowl, but under new sponsorship.





We'll be playing at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions and our own Cliff Avril. In addition to this, Ford Field  is also:

• home of one of 6 NFL Fields that have East and West Endzones
• Home of Super Bowl XL
• Home of the 2009 NCAA Final Four

The bowl game is still pretty fresh in all of our minds for Purdue fans, but what most don't know that..

• Purdue is the only Big Ten team to win  it
• Purdue vs Central Michigan was the most attended bowl game
• Curtis Painter - the game MVP - threw for 546 yards and 3 TDs in the 07 match up. This was the most yards thrown by a Purdue QB in a bowl game and at the time was the most in the Bowl's history (may still stand). It was the fourth most yards in a bowl game ever.

We'll be playing the Western Michigan Broncos. The Broncos are 7-5 and this year...

• Are 0-2 against the Big Ten
• Losses to Michigan and Illinois
• Lost a thriller against Toledo
• 66-63 was the final score.
• Dismantled Central Michigan - the team we beat in the 2007 Motor City Bowl
• Played a team rated worse than Indiana and blew their doors off (Akron - 68 to 19)
• Placed only slightly higher than us on the MCubed rating scale (66 versus our 71; both out of 120 [Indiana is 111])

But what else do we know about them? It's been a little while and I'm a little rusty, but the fondue is nearing the boiling point.

• Colors are Brown and Gold, but they wear gold and black instead...
• Assuming they are the home team, they will wear black tops and pants with a gold helmet and a brown stripe.
• They have an alternate pair of gold pants as well.
• They have never won a bowl game (0-4)
• They are 0-2 against Purdue
• Purdue scored 28 points in each meeting (1993 and 2002)
• 4-28 against the Big 10
• They have never put up more than 30 points against a Big 10 team ( Lost, 30-45 against Indiana in 1998)
• In 1996 - the team started off 0-6 going up against the University of Wyoming. After an embarrassing loss, their coach's contract was announced to be not renewed. Why is this important? Joe Tiller was coaching Wyoming.
• Famous Alumni
• Tim Allen
• Also the alma mater of Tim (played by Tim Allen) and Jill Taylor - the fictional parents from the show Home Improvement
• John Harbaugh - coach of the Baltimore Ravens

We're excited about the idea of watching Purdue football with egg nog around the Christmas Tree. What about you?