FAQ: Independence Bowl

The 2011 Independence Bowl is just hours away. We're sure you have so many questions. We're here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Mallory

The 2011 Independence Bowl is just hours away. We're sure you have so many questions. We're here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Mallory Rubin's game preview.)

• Where will this game be played? Independence Stadium, Shreveport, Louisiana, which once served as the home field of a CFL team! (You read that right.)

• When is it on television? Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 26. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

• Whom does it feature? Current agreements match up the Mountain West and ACC.

• What about this year? Change-up! The ACC sends 7-5 UNC while the Big 12 manages to thrust one of its eight bowl-eligible teams into a game, in the form of 7-5 Missouri.

• That sounds like a lot of work just to have to spend Christmas in Shreveport. The Tigers probably should have thought of that before losing to Arizona State.

• OK, that's not fair. No, it's not. Arizona State looked like a football team in September, and Mizzou's conference schedule was not a pretty one. Sometimes it feels like the Independence Bowl exists solely to drive home that crucial college football motif of the futility of human existence.

• Who sponsors it? AdvoCare, "a premier health and wellness company offering more than 70 exclusive nutritional and skincare products." Current celebrity endorser: Colt McCoy, "World Champion Bareback Rider" Bobby Mote and two professional bowlers! Also some more football players; I beseech you to click through just to look at Kyle Orton's headshot.

• What, is he recording a duets album with Sheryl Crow? Have to think that's already in the can, which would explain a lot about Kyle Orton's last month or so of football activity.

• Who will call the game? Rob Stone, Danny Kannell and Allison Williams have that dubious honor.

• Enough about the football. What about the loot? We're edging into the "gift suite" tier of games, but no Independence Bowl player will go home without a commemorative football, something most football players could surely use.

• What wacky activities/mild indignities will bowl participants be subjected to over the course of the week? I'm concerned about the ambient fun factor in something called the "United Healthcare Presents 'The Big Game Show' Team Welcome Party."

• Please impart any miscellaneous knowledge you might have concerning the 2011 Independence Bowl. Glad you asked! Formerly known (and forever in our hearts) as the Poulan Weedeater Bowl, the Independence Bowl game "celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2010 and is the 11th oldest bowl game in the country."

Stay tuned for more postseason FAQ sheets, and stay on top of a hectic postseason slate with our complete

2011-2012 College Football Bowl Schedule

.