2012 Russell Athletic Bowl
The 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl is a planned post-season American college football bowl game held on December 28, 2012 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida in the United States. The 23rd edition of the Russell Athletic Bowl will begin at 5:30 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN. It will feature the Virginia Tech Hokies from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against the Big East Conference co-champion Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and will be the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Scarlet Knights accepted their invitation after achieving a 9-3 record in the regular season, while the Hokies accepted theirs after achieving a 6-6 record.
This will be the first Russell Athletic Bowl for both teams.
Teams
Virginia Tech
A disastrous season by Virginia Tech standards, the Hokies were in danger of being bowl-ineligible for the first time since 1992. However, in their final two games the Hokies defeated their rivals the Boston College Eagles as well as Commonwealth Cup rivals the Virginia Cavaliers, finishing 6-6 and becoming bowl-eligible.
Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights finished in a four-way tie for the Big East title with a 5-2 conference record (holding the tiebreaker over the Syracuse Orange and Cincinnati Bearcats but behind the Louisville Cardinals. After losing to said Cardinals in their season finale, the Scarlet Knights accepted an invitation to the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl.