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Outback Bowl
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Outback Bowl logo
Stadium Raymond James Stadium
Location Tampa, Florida
Previous stadiums Legion Field (1977–85)
Tampa Stadium (1986–98)
Operated 1986–present
Conference tie-ins Big Ten, SEC
Payout US$7,200,000 (As of 2013)
Sponsors
Outback Steakhouse
Former names
Hall of Fame Bowl (1977–1994)
2012 matchup
Michigan State vs. Georgia (Michigan State 33-30)
2013 matchup
Michigan vs. South Carolina (January 1, 2013)

The Outback Bowl is an annual New Year's Day college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The event was originally called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1994 until being renamed in 1995 for its new title sponsor, Outback Steakhouse. It is organized by the Tampa Bay Bowl Association under Jim McVay, who has been the president/CEO since 1988.

History[]

The Outback Bowl is not Tampa's first bowl game, as the Cigar Bowl was played at old Phillips Field near downtown from 1947–1954. However, the earlier event matched small college teams, so the Outback Bowl was the first major bowl game to be played in the area. (A notable participant in the 1950 Cigar Bowl was Florida State, but the FSU football program had just begun at the time and they were not yet considered a major college team.)

The Hall of Fame Bowl was held at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977–1985. In the spring of 1986, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame decided to discontinue their association with the bowl and realign with a new bowl game to be played in Tampa Stadium which would inherit the Hall of Fame Bowl name. The bowl did not have agreements to bring in teams from particular conferences in its early years but often matched a school from either the Southeastern Conference or the Atlantic Coast Conference against a team from another region.

In 1999, the Outback Bowl was moved from Tampa Stadium into newly-built Raymond James Stadium next door.

The game[]

Outback Steakhouse became the game's title sponsor in 1996. Since that game, the Outback Bowl has matched teams from the SEC and the Big Ten. The minimum payout for each participating school is US$3.3 million. In late 2009, the Outback Bowl announced that it has extended its contract with the Big Ten Conference through the 2013 football season and with the Southeastern Conference through the 2014 game.[1] The bowl will continue to invite the third pick of teams from the Big Ten to face the third pick from the SEC[2] (the Outback Bowl and the Cotton Bowl Classic both pick third after the BCS selections and the Capital One Bowl; due to geographical considerations the Outback Bowl selects from the SEC's Eastern Division).

The Outback Bowl is played on New Year's Day unless January 1 falls on a Sunday, in which case it is moved to the following Monday. It is usually the first game to start on a date which is traditionally full of college bowl games, and has kicked off as early as 11AM. ESPN has had television rights to the game since 1993. Under an extension of those rights in 2010, ESPN now broadcasts the game on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2, in conjunction with the Capital One Bowl and the Gator Bowl. The contract is through 2014.[3] Between 1988 and 1992, the bowl aired on NBC.

Game results[]

For "Hall of Fame Bowl" results from 1977-1985, see All-American Bowl.
Season Date Played Winning Team Losing Team Notes
1986 December 23, 1986 Boston College 27 #17 Georgia 24 notes
1987 January 2, 1988 Michigan 28 Alabama 24 notes
1988 January 2, 1989 #17 Syracuse 23 #16 LSU 10 notes
1989 January 1, 1990 #9 Auburn 31 #21 Ohio State 14 notes
1990 January 1, 1991 #14 Clemson 30 #16 Illinois 0 notes
1991 January 1, 1992 Syracuse 24 Ohio State 17 notes
1992 January 1, 1993 Tennessee 38 Boston College 23 notes
1993 January 1, 1994 Michigan 42 NC State 7 notes
1994 January 2, 1995 Wisconsin 34 Duke 20 notes
1995 January 1, 1996 Penn State 43 Auburn 14 notes
1996 January 1, 1997 Alabama 17 Michigan 14 notes
1997 January 1, 1998 Georgia 33 Wisconsin 6 notes
1998 January 1, 1999 Penn State 26 Kentucky 14 notes
1999 January 1, 2000 Georgia 28 Purdue 25 (OT) notes
2000 January 1, 2001 South Carolina 24 Ohio State 7 notes
2001 January 1, 2002 South Carolina 31 Ohio State 28 notes
2002 January 1, 2003 Michigan 38 Florida 30 notes
2003 January 1, 2004 Iowa 37 Florida 17 notes
2004 January 1, 2005 Georgia 24 Wisconsin 21 notes
2005 January 2, 2006 Florida 31 Iowa 24 notes
2006 January 1, 2007 Penn State 20 Tennessee 10 notes
2007 January 1, 2008 Tennessee 21 Wisconsin 17 notes
2008 January 1, 2009 Iowa 31 South Carolina 10 notes
2009 January 1, 2010 Auburn 38 Northwestern 35 (OT) notes
2010 January 1, 2011 Florida 37 Penn State 24 notes
2011 January 2, 2012 Michigan State 33 Georgia 30 (3OT) notes
2012 January 1, 2013 South Carolina 33 Michigan 28 notes

MVPs[]

Date MVP(s) Team Position
December 23, 1986 James Jackson Georgia QB
Garry Moss Georgia CB
January 2, 1988 Jamie Morris Michigan TB
January 2, 1989 Robert Drummond Syracuse RB
January 1, 1990 Reggie Slack Auburn QB
January 1, 1991 DeChane Cameron Clemson QB
January 1, 1992 Marvin Graves Syracuse QB
January 1, 1993 Heath Shuler Tennessee QB
January 1, 1994 Tyrone Wheatley Michigan RB
January 2, 1995 Terrell Fletcher Wisconsin RB
January 1, 1996 Bobby Engram Penn State WR
January 1, 1997 Dwayne Rudd Alabama LB
January 1, 1998 Mike Bobo Georgia QB
January 1, 1999 Courtney Brown Penn State DE
January 1, 2000 Drew Brees Purdue QB
January 1, 2001 Ryan Brewer South Carolina RB
January 1, 2002 Phil Petty South Carolina QB
January 1, 2003 Chris Perry Michigan TB
January 1, 2004 Fred Russell Iowa RB
January 1, 2005 David Pollack Georgia DE
January 2, 2006 Dallas Baker Florida WR
January 1, 2007 Tony Hunt Penn State RB
January 1, 2008 Erik Ainge Tennessee QB
January 1, 2009 Shonn Greene Iowa RB
January 1, 2010 Darvin Adams Auburn WR
January 1, 2011 Ahmad Black Florida S
January 2, 2012 Brandon Boykin Georgia CB
January 1, 2013 Ace Sanders South Carolina WR/PR

Appearances by Team[]

Rank Team Appearances Record
T1 Georgia 5 3–2
T1 Michigan 5 3–2
T3 Penn State 4 3–1
T3 South Carolina 4 3–1
T3 Florida 4 2–2
T3 Wisconsin 4 1–3
T3 Ohio State 4 0–4
T8 Auburn 3 2–1
T8 Iowa 3 2–1
T8 Tennessee 3 2–1
T11 Syracuse 2 2–0
T11 Alabama 2 1–1
T11 Boston College 2 1–1
T14 Clemson 1 1–0
T14 Michigan State 1 1–0
T14 Duke 1 0–1
T14 Illinois 1 0–1
T14 Kentucky 1 0–1
T14 LSU 1 0–1
T14 NC State 1 0–1
T14 Northwestern 1 0–1
T14 Purdue 1 0–1

See also[]

  • Outback Bowl broadcasters

References[]

External links[]

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