The Florida Gators are finally returning to the Orange Bowl, where they’ll face Virginia
After nearly two decades, the Florida Gators are finally returning to the Orange Bowl.
No. 9 Florida is coming to Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 30 to play the Virginia Cavaliers in the New Year’s Six bowl game at 8 p.m. It’s the first time the Gators are coming down to South Florida to play in the Orange Bowl since 2002, when they blew out the Maryland Terrapins in Miami Gardens.
For No. 24 Virginia, it’s the first ever appearance in the bowl game. The Cavaliers earned their place in the game by virtue of being the top Atlantic Coast Conference team not headed to play in the College Football Playoff. Florida edges out the No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide and Penn State Nittany Lions for a spot in the game by being the highest ranked Southeastern Conference or Big Ten Conference not going to the Playoff, Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl. The No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish are also eligible for the game, but finished ranked below multiple eligible SEC and Big Ten teams.
The Gators also played in the game in 1967 and 1999. They are 3-0 all-time.
Florida and Virginia make it eight different teams which have played in the Orange Bowl in the last six seasons. Last year, Alabama beat the Oklahoma Sooners in a Playoff semifinal before losing to the Clemson Tigers in the national championship. The Wisconsin Badgers beat the Miami Hurricanes in 2017 and the Florida State Seminoles beat the Michigan Wolverines in 2016.
The Gators surged into the game by finishing the regular season on a three-game winning streak. Florida dropped from No. 6 to No. 10 following a loss to the Georgia Bulldogs last month, then climbed back up to No. 9 with three straight wins, including a 40-17 rout of rival Florida State to close the regular season. With the No. 1 LSU Tigers in the College Football Playoff (CFP) and No. 5 Georgia going to the Sugar Bowl, the Gators are the top-ranked SEC team available, edging out the Crimson Tide. They also beat out No. 10 Penn State, which will play in the Cotton Bowl. The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes will play in the CFP and the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers are going to the Rose Bowl after winning the West Division.
“I think it’s great for us,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said. “The location is accessible to Gator fans and Gator nation to be able to come down. I expect to have a great crowd there, a great showing of Gator fans to come support their team.”
With no ACC team ranked other than the CFP-bound Clemson Tigers, the Cavaliers earned the conference’s automatic berth to the game by winning the Coastal Division, then losing to No. 3 Clemson, 62-17, on Saturday in the ACC Championship Game.
Florida is 23-21 all-time in bowl games, while Virginia is 4-8. The Gators are playing in their second straight bowl game after they won the Peach Bowl last season. The Cavaliers are playing in their third straight bowl and won the Belk Bowl last season. This is Florida’s 15th appearance in one of the major bowl games. Virginia’s only other appearance in a major bowl game came in the 1991 Sugar Bowl.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 3:08 PM.
