Rutgers Football to Meet the Cyclones of Iowa State in 2011 Pinstripe Bowl

This year, Yankee Stadium will play host to Rutgers and Iowa State for the second annual Pinstripe Bowl.

The bowl places the fourth-placed Big East team against the seventh-placed team in the Big 12. Both conferences agreed to a contract that will last at least four years, this being the second. If a Big 12 team lacks a bid, independent Notre Dame will be eligible for invitation.

The Pinstripe Bowl is the 35th bowl on this year’s calendar and the first in the New York City metro area. If you remember, the original Giants Stadium used to hold the Garden State Bowl. The last edition of that game was when Tennessee faced off against Wisconsin in 1981. Furthermore, it’s the first bowl game in New York City since 1962, when Miami was slated with Nebraska in the old Yankee Stadium.

The Pinstripe Bowl is the third bowl game to be played on a field specifically meant for baseball. The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl are the other two games to be at baseball fields.

Last year’s first edition pitted Syracuse against Kansas State in a game that went down to the wire. To those who don’t remember or missed it, the Orange led by eight with 3:08 left. Nearly two minutes later, the Wildcats of Kansas State scored to make it 36-34. However, their two-point conversion failed and Syracuse went on to win.

This year’s Pinstripe Bowl will see Iowa State play Rutgers, basically a home game for the Scarlet Knights. The game is scheduled for Dec. 30, 2011 with a kickoff just before 3:30 p.m. EST. The game is slated to air on ESPN.

This is the first of five articles I am writing this week covering the contest. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will give a Rutgers preview, followed by an Iowa State preview on Wednesday. Thursday I will have season recaps of both teams and a final prediction on Friday.

May the college football gods be good to your bowl picks and favorite teams. ‘Tis the season!