The Capital One Bowl: Alabama And MSU Coaches Ready to Promote The Game

On Thursday of this week, Nick Saban and Mark Dantonio met in Orlando to take on the media and promote the 2011 Capital One Bowl.

This Bowl game will take on the luster of a major BCS Bowl and the television audience will likely out-perform the Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl audiences. Only the Rose Bowl has a chance for higher television ratings.

In the first meeting between Michigan State and Alabama, the stakes are high and the teams are evenly matched for a rough and tumble brawl in the Citrus Bowl venue. The payout to the schools is $4.25 million.

Nick Saban coached the Spartans from 1983-87 as an assistant and from 1995-99 as head coach.

Mark Dantonio was an assistant under Saban during his reign as head coach. Following Saban's departure from MSU, Dantonio spent time as an assistant at Ohio State (2001-03) and head coach at Cincinnati (2004-06) before returning to East Lansing and becoming the head coach in 2007.

While at MSU, Dantonio has amassed a record of 33-18 (20-12 in the Big Ten). This is the second appearance in the Capitol One Bowl for MSU with Coach Dantonio.

The Spartans played to a 9-3 finish in Dantonio's second season as head coach and took on Georgia in 2008. The Spartans lost to the Bulldogs 24-12.

The 2010 campaign for the Spartans has been nothing short of phenomenal. Finishing at 11-1, the regular season record allowed for a three way tie with Ohio State and Wisconsin.

The win over Notre Dame was one of the greatest of all time for the Spartans. With his team down by three, Dantonio's Spartans ended the game with a fake field goal that yielded a touchdown for the victory.

The Spartans defeated Wisconsin 34-24 at home, losing on the road to Iowa 37-6 in week nine. The 2010 schedule did not include a confrontation with perennial power Ohio State.

Wisconsin will host TCU in the Rose Bowl while OSU travels to New Orleans to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Sugar Bowl.

Dantonio's senior-laden team has accrued the most wins of any senior class in the history of the Spartan program, setting the record with a win over Purdue.

They topped the win column at 33 with a victory over Penn State to end the season, on the road. It is the first time that the Spartans have completed the season without a loss at home.

Nick Saban is completing his fourth year as head coach for the Crimson Tide. Coming off a national championship year in 2009, the Tide finished the 2010 season 9-3 (5-3 in the SEC, landing fourth in the West Division).

Losses for Alabama include a one point defeat at the hands of SEC Champion Auburn, a three-point deficit to LSU and a two-touchdown loss on the road to East Division champion, South Carolina.

Alabama defeated Sugar Bowl-bound Arkansas 24-20 in Fayetteville. It was the Razorbacks' only home loss on the year.

Arkansas lost to Auburn 65-43, soundly defeated South Carolina on the road 41-20, and finished the regular season with a victory at home in War Memorial Stadium against the LSU Tigers 31-23.

The West Division of the SEC has never had a tighter grouping of contenders since the inception of the two-division format for the conference.

The No. 7-ranked Michigan State Spartans will meet No. 15 Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1 for a 1:00 PM kickoff. The game will be aired by ESPN.

The early lines have Michigan State (+10) and the over/under for the game at 51.5 points. It is expected to be an explosive affair on New Year's Day.