FWIW: Michigan leads in number of Outback Bowl appearances

Submitted by BlowGoo on

FWIW: With this latest appearance, Michigan leads in number of Outback Bowl appearances at six (3-2):

1988 Michigan 28, Alabama 24

1994 Michigan 42, NCState 7

1997 Alabama 17, Michigan 14

2003 Michigan 38, Florida 30

2013 South Carolina 33, Michigan 28

 

Team with the next greatest number of appearances in the Outback Bowl?

South Carolina with five (to be tied with Georgia, Iowa, and Wisconsin upon playing 2018 game) with record of 3-1:

2001 South Carolina 24, Ohio State 7

2002 South Carolina 31, Ohio State 28

2009 Iowa 31, South Carolina 10

2013 South Carolina 33, Michigan 28

 

Ohio State has four appearances. 0-4.

1990 Auburn 31, Ohio State 14

1992 Syracuse 24, Ohio State 17

2001 South Carolina 24, Ohio State 7

2002 South Carolina 31, Ohio State 28

 

Caveat: I could be wrong with number of appearances by other teams. Link? Link:

http://www.outbackbowl.com/history

Communist Football

December 14th, 2017 at 7:23 AM ^

An incredible 4th-down 20-yard TD last-minute completion from Demetrius Brown to John Kolesar won the game. They could have gone for the FG to tie but went for the win instead. I still have the VHS recording in a closet somewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waGp-Mr6wTY#t=6m0s

Other than Sheridan/Threet, that was the last year we had QB play as messy as this year, FWIW.

In reply to by ijohnb

jmblue

December 14th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^

He beat us in '98 and went 11-1.  I don't think he was in any particular jeopardy after that season.  

It all fell apart for him in a few weeks at the end of 2000.  The combination of 1) losing at home to Michigan, 2) getting blown out by South Carolina and 3) the revelation that some guys on the team had 0.0 GPAs was too much for him to survive.

jmblue

December 14th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^

My hypothesis is actually the opposite: perhaps, in the 1970s (when we went 0-7 in bowls) Bo still had the mindset that a bowl was basically an exhibition and that the main business of the season had been concluded.  It had only been a few years since the voters started awarding the national title after the bowls, so this paradigm shift was new.  And if you're a Midwestern team going to a sunny location for New Year's, it's probably easy to look at it as a vacation.

In the '80s we were 5-5 in bowls, so whatever our issue was in the previous decade, we seemed to figure it out.

NittanyFan

December 14th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^

Another B1G school that's played in Tampa a number of times.

It's not a terrible Bowl game, I've been once.  But nothing quite says "Congrats on finishing the year 8-4" like an Outback Bowl bid.  This is the 6th consecutive year the Bowl has hosted at least one 8-4 team.