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Champs Sports Bowl

Dec. 27, 4:30 p.m.

Orlando, Fla., Florida Citrus Bowl

Florida State 42, Wisconsin 13

The Champs Sports Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida. The game was played at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida from 1990 to 2000 and is now played at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Capital One Bowl and Florida Classic.

The game was originally organized by Raycom Sports in the summer of 1990. Organizers were looking to add a second bowl game to the popular Miami area (alongside the Orange Bowl). At the time, the Orange Bowl was still being played at the Miami Orange Bowl. Game organizers were looking to host the game, however, at the newer Joe Robbie Stadium. Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga soon joined forces and brought in Blockbuster as title sponsor. The inaugural game was a smash success, pitting Florida State and Penn State, and two legendary coaches, Bobby Bowden versus Joe Paterno in front of over 74,000 at Joe Robbie Stadium. Subsequent games, however, never matched the success of the first, despite a short tenure on New Year's Day. For two years (1993-1994), both the Blockbuster Bowl and the Orange Bowl were played on the same day (January 1), only miles apart. In 1996, the Orange Bowl moved into modern Pro Player Stadium, and what was now being call the Carquest Bowl lost its short-lived, and coveted, New Year's Day slot.

Since 2001, the bowl has been operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Capital One Bowl and Florida Classic. FCS took over the game, moved it to Orlando, to give the city two bowl games, and initially utilized the monikor of Tangerine Bowl, bringing back the "Tangerine Bowl" name which had been associated with Orlando previously for decades.

Since the 2006 football season, the bowl has matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference. Since 2004, Champs Sports, a division of Foot Locker, has sponsored the event. Under the terms of a television deal signed with ESPN in 2006, the bowl will be held after Christmas Day from 2006–2009, and be shown on ESPN in prime time. The change was made to move the game from the less-desirable pre-Christmas date utilized from 2001–2004.

Before gaining Blockbuster Entertainment as the corporate sponsor for the inaugural event, the game was tentatively referred to as the Sunshine Classic.

Football Betting News

Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans 8:30 ET

Posted on 11/20/2009 12:00:00 AMby North Shore Sports, INC

Monday Night Football betting action heads to Reliant Stadium, where the Tennessee Titans (3-6, 4-5 ATS) will take on the Houston Texans (5-4, 5-3-1 ATS). The final game on the Week 11 NFL betting slate is arguably the most intriguing game on the schedule for Bookmaker Sportsbook customers to dig into. QB Vince Young will return to the Lone Star State, where the crowd will certainly be on his side considering that he led the Texas Longhorns to a National Championship. But the Texans are the upstarts of the league, and they'll want to kick off the second half of their season in a strong manner after their bye week.
 
The host Texans currently sit as 4.5-point home favorites with the game ‘total set at 48-points at Bookmaker.com for tonight’s MNF betting AFC South battle.
 
Since their bye week, the Titans have won and covered three straight games. HC Jeff Fisher's decision to change quarterbacks has apparently worked, as Young has led the Titans to 30+ points in each of their L/3 games. However, the game plan may be a large part of that as well. Young hasn't been asked to do much with his arm. He has only thrown for 507 yards in his three starts. Instead, the onus has fallen on RB Chris Johnson.
 
The East Carolina product is already a 1,000+ yard rusher this year, as he has rumbled for 1,091 yards and eight TDs. He also has 262 receiving yards on 30 receptions. The second-year back has turned himself into an MVP candidate very quickly, as he has accounted for 623 rushing yards and six TDs over the L/4 games. Johnson will be salivating at the idea of facing a Houston defense which he absolutely torched in Week 2, as he ran for 197 yards and received for another 87, accounting for three TDs in the process.
 
QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson had fantastic games against these Titans in Week 2 as well, though. Johnson caught ten passes for 149 yards and two scores, while Schaub won AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for going 25/39 for 357 yards and four TDs without throwing a pick. There's no doubt that Houston can throw the ball around the field, as Schaub is pacing the #3 passing attack in the NFL at 283.7 yards per game.
 
The biggest question is whether an improving defense can figure out how to contain Johnson and keep Young in the pocket. Before taking their bye week last week, the Texans had gone 3-0-1 ATS and 3-1 SU in their L/4, and they came as close as any team has come to knocking off the Colts when they lost 20-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium two weeks ago.
 
The 34-31 victory for Houston in Week 2 marked the second straight win for the Texans in this series. The underdog has covered seven of the L/2 clashes between these two squads. The home team has won three straight. Last year at Reliant, the Texans used a stifling defensive effort and 207 receiving yards by Johnson to capture a 13-12 victory.
 
Tensions will be high between these division rivals, as playoff positioning is also on the line. You're not going to want to miss all of the NFL betting action under the bright lights of Monday Night with Bookmaker.com!

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