Citrus Bowl (game)

Citrus Bowl
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl
"Little Bowl with the Big Heart"
Stadium	Orlando Citrus Bowl
Location	Orlando, Florida
Previous stadiums	Florida Field (1973)
Previous locations	Gainesville, Florida (1973)
Operated	1947–present
Conference tie-ins	Big Ten, SEC
Previous conference tie-ins	OVC (1947–1967) MAC (1968–1975) SoCon (1968–1972) SEC (1972–1973) ACC (1987–1991)
Payout	US$4,250,000 (As of 2015)
Sponsors
Florida Citrus Growers Association (1983–2002) CompUSA (1994–1999) Ourhouse.com (2000) Capital One (2001–2014) Buffalo Wild Wings (2015–present)
Former names
Tangerine Bowl (1947–1982) Florida Citrus Bowl (1983–1993) CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl (1994–1999) Ourhouse.com Florida Citrus Bowl (2000) Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (2001–2002) Capital One Bowl (2003–2014)
2015 matchup
Missouri vs. Minnesota (Missouri 33–17)
2016 matchup
Michigan vs. Florida (Michigan 41–7)

The Citrus Bowl, also known as the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl for sponsorship purposes, is an annual college football bowl game played at the Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Florida.^[1] It was previously known as the Tangerine Bowl (1947–1982), the Florida Citrus Bowl (1983–2002), and the Capital One Bowl (2003–2014). The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Russell Athletic Bowl and Florida Classic.

Since becoming one of the premier bowls, the Citrus Bowl is typically played at 1 p.m. EST on January 1, New Year's Day, immediately before the Rose Bowl, both of which have been televised on ESPN since 2011. (In years when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2 to avoid conflicting with the National Football League schedule.) In 2004, the Capital One Bowl bid to become the fifth BCS game, but was not chosen, primarily due to the stadium's aging condition. On July 26, 2007, the Orange County Commissioners voted 5–2 in favor of spending $1.1 billion to build a new arena for the Orlando Magic, a performing arts center, and to upgrade the Citrus Bowl.

Currently, the bowl has tie-ins with the SEC and the Big Ten, holding the first selection after the CFP selection process for both conferences. As of 2015 at $4.25 million per team,^[2] it has the largest payout of all the non-CFP bowls. In nearly every year since 1985, the game has featured both teams ranked in the Top 25. After the 2014 formation of the College Football Playoff, the Citrus Bowl has a chance to occasionally host an ACC team, replacing the Big Ten representative. This will happen the years in which the Orange Bowl is not a semi-final game and selects a Big Ten team to match against their ACC team.

Capital One ceased its sponsorship of the game following the 2014 game, and moved its sponsorship to the Orange Bowl.^[3] Buffalo Wild Wings was announced as the new title sponsor of the bowl game in 2014. Buffalo Wild Wings had previously been the title sponsor of what is now the Cactus Bowl.^[4]

History

The game, which began play in 1947, is one of the oldest of the non-CFP bowls, along with the Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl. The first game played before an estimated crowd of 9,000. By 1952, the game was dubbed the "Little Bowl with the Big Heart," because all the proceeds from the game went to charity. Before 1968 the game featured matchups between schools throughout the South, often featuring the Ohio Valley Conference champion or other small colleges (though a few major colleges did play in the bowl during this early era as well). After becoming a major college bowl game, from 1968 through 1975 the bowl featured the Mid-American Conference champion against an opponent from the Southern Conference (through 1972), the SEC (1973–1974), or an at-large opponent (1975). As the major football conferences relaxed restrictions on post-season play in the mid-1970s, the game went to a matchup between two at-large teams from major conferences, with one school typically (but not always) from the South. From the 1987 season to 1991, it featured the ACC champion against an at-large opponent. Since the 1992 season, the game has featured one of the top teams from both the Big Ten and the SEC.

In 1986, it was one of the bowl games considered for the site of the "winner take all" national championship game between Penn State and Miami before the Fiesta Bowl was eventually chosen.

The 1991 game featured National Championship implications. Georgia Tech won the Florida Citrus Bowl, finished 11–0–1, and were voted the 1990 UPI national champion.

The 1998 game, which featured nearby Florida beating Penn State, holds the game's attendance record at 72,940. During the 1990s, the second-place finisher in the SEC (but not necessarily the loser of the SEC Championship Game) typically went to this bowl. Florida coach Steve Spurrier, speaking to the fact Tennessee occupied that spot three of four years as Florida finished first, famously quipped "You can't spell 'Citrus' without U-T!" In 1997, the Volunteers played for the last Bowl Alliance national championship in the Orange Bowl, and the Gators went to the Citrus Bowl, where it defeated Penn State 21-6. Florida defeated Tennessee 33-20 in the regular season, but were knocked out of the SEC East title race by losing to LSU and Georgia.

Racial integration

The University at Buffalo's first bowl bid was to the Tangerine Bowl in 1958. The Tangerine Bowl Commission hoped that the Orlando High School Athletic Association, who operated the stadium, would waive their rule that prohibited integrated sporting events. When they refused, the team unanimously voted to skip the bowl because their two black players would not have been allowed on the field. Buffalo was not bowl eligible for another 50 years. During the 2008 season, when the Bulls were on the verge of bowl eligibility, the 1958 team was profiled on ESPN's Outside the Lines.^[5] The 2008 team went on to win the Mid-American Conference title, and lost to University of Connecticut 38–20 in the International Bowl.

By 1966 the rule was changed, and Morgan State, of Baltimore, Maryland under head coach Earl C. Banks, a member of the NCAA College Football Hall of Fame, became the first historically black college (HBCU) to play in and win the Tangerine Bowl game by defeating West Chester State (Pennsylvania), finishing the season undefeated for the second straight year.

Gainesville

In early 1973, construction improvements were planned for the then 17,000-seat Tangerine Bowl stadium to expand to over 51,000 seats. In early summer 1973, however, construction was stalled due to legal concerns, and the improvements were delayed. Late in the 1973 college football season, Tangerine Bowl President Will Gieger and other officials planned to invite the Miami University Redskins and the East Carolina Pirates to Orlando for the game. On November 19, 1973, East Carolina withdrew its interests, and the bowl was left with one at-large bid. In an unexpected and unprecedented move, game officials decided to invite the Florida Gators, and move the game to Florida Field in Gainesville, the Gators' home stadium. The larger stadium would be needed to accommodate the large crowd expected. The move required special permission from the NCAA, and special accommodations were made. Both teams would be headquartered in Orlando for the week, and spend most of their time there, including practices, and would be bused up to Gainesville.

The participants were greeted with an unexpected event, a near-record low temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius). Despite the home-field advantage, in the game nicknamed the "Transplant Bowl," Miami (OH), who found the cold much more to its liking, defeated the Gators 16–7. One of the players on the victorious Redskins squad was future Gators coach Ron Zook.

The one-time moving of the game, and the fears of a permanent relocation, rejuvenated the stalled stadium renovations in Orlando. The game returned to Orlando for 1974, and within a couple of years, the expansion project was complete.

Mascot Challenge

The "Capital One Mascot Challenge" (formerly known as the "Capital One National Mascot of the Year") is a contest where fans vote for their favorite college mascot. The contest began in 2002 with the winner being named during the halftime of the Capital One Bowl. Monte of the University of Montana was the first winner in the inaugural contest. The most recent winner is Aubie of Auburn University.

Since 2010, 16 mascots have competed annually in the Mascot Challenge (only 12 mascots competed annually in 2002–2009). The mascot with the best record is declared the winner and is honored at halftime on the game telecast. The winning school is awarded $20,000 towards their mascot program. With the ending of Capital One's sponsorship of the Citrus Bowl, the winner naming ceremony was moved in 2014 to the Orange Bowl with Capital One's sponsorship of that game.

Game results

Italics denote a tie game.

MVPs

Most appearances

• Since the conference affiliations of the game became SEC vs. Big Ten in the 1992 season, the SEC currently holds an edge of 14–10.

Broadcasting

ABC televised the game from 1987 to 2010, with NBC airing it in 1984–85 and the syndicated Mizlou Television Network doing so prior to 1984. In March 2010, ESPN announced extensions to their television contracts with the Capital One Bowl and the Outback Bowl, along with a new contract with the Gator Bowl.^[6] The contract for the now Citrus Bowl is through 2018. Under these new agreements, ESPN will broadcast all three games on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2.

Radio broadcast rights for the game are currently held by ESPN Radio. Sports USA Radio held the rights from 2003-2010.

Television

Radio

References

Additional sources

• Orlando Sentinel-Star (November 20, 1973); Various articles- Accessed via microfilm 01-03-2007.

External links

• Official website
• Official website of the Capital One Bowl All American Halftime Show
• 1955 Tangerine Bowl Digital Collection from the University of Nebraska Omaha Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library