Outback Bowl Picks Purdue and Georgia
(December 8, 1999)

The Purdue Boilermakers and Georgia Bulldog have been invited to play in Outback Bowl 2000. Bowl officials are hoping for an offensive display at Raymond James Stadium on New Year's Day.

With an 11:00 a.m. kickoff, the traditional opening game of the New Years Day football feast is being promoted as the first major sporting event of the new millennium. There is a special logo for Outback Bowl 2000.

Both schools posted 7-4 records this season and feature exciting quarterbacks. Purdue's Drew Brees has received national attention for leading the top ranked offense in the Big Ten. Wide receiver Chris Daniels, a local product from Clearwater High School, was named the team MVP with a Big Ten record 109 receptions. Georgia's Quincy Carter quarterbacks the second best offense in Southeastern Conference.

Head coach Joe Tiller and Purdue are making their first trip to the Outback Bowl. In fact, it is their first bowl game in the state of Florida. For the Boilermakers, this will be their eighth bowl appearance. They are 6-1 all time and won the Alamo Bowl the last two years.

For the second time in three years head coach Jim Donnan will bring the Bulldogs to the Outback Bowl. They defeated Wisconsin 33-6 two years ago and also played in the first Outback Bowl, then known as the Hall of Fame Bowl, back in 1986. Georgia will be making its thirty-fifth bowl appearance and have a 17-14-3 all- time record.

While it looks like a good match-up, the odds have Purdue a 5 1/2 point favorite, teams with better records were available. The Outback Bowl gets the third pick in the Big Ten and SEC, not necessarily the third place team. In the Big Ten, Penn State (9-3) and Minnesota (8-3) were available with better records than Purdue's 7-4. Penn State was here last year and Minnesota does not have a high profile player like Drew Brees. In the SEC, Mississippi State finished 9- 2, better than Georgia's 7-4. It was thought that Georgia would bring more people to Tampa. There is more than just records involved in issuing bowl invitations.

The Purdue Boilermakers and Georgia Bulldogs will kickoff the new millennium. If the folks at the Outback Bowl have their wish, the fourteenth rendition of the game will open up the twenty-first century with plenty of offensive fireworks.