Back to the Outback
(December 10, 2001)

For the first time the Outback Bowl will have a re-match of the previous year's game, when South Carolina and Ohio State come to Raymond James Stadium on New Year's Day.

For some time, it appeared that Georgia was going to represent the Southeastern Conference in Tampa. When LSU upset Tennessee in the SEC championship, Outback officials could choose between Georgia and South Carolina. Both the Bulldogs and Gamecocks were 8-3, but fourteenth ranked South Carolina was a couple of spots higher in the polls and had defeated Georgia 14-9. Twenty-second ranked Ohio State went 7-4 this season. The Buckeyes will be making their third visit to Tampa and thirty-third bowl appearance. They have lost all three previous Outback trips. In 1990 they lost to Auburn 31-14, in 1992 they fell to Syracuse 24-17 and they lost last year to South Carolina 24-7. The 2001 game was the Gamecocks first visit to the Outback Bowl and the school's tenth overall bowl game.

Last Year, South Carolina went from not winning a game the year before to playing on New Year's Day. Head Coach Lou Holtz has turned the program around and the Gamecocks dominated the Buckeyes last New Years Day. Ohio State fired head coach John Cooper the day after that loss, so this is the school's first bowl game under Jim Tressel.

While it may not be an ideal situation to have the same teams play two years in a row, both schools should travel well. Last year, the Cinderella season for South Carolina helped the game sellout early. Ohio State has plenty of tradition and a following in the Tampa Bay area. A bowl trip is a vacation for supporters and hopefully they will want to make another trip.

Due to the controversy, maybe we should include a few comments on the Bowl Championship Series. Miami deserves to be in the championship game, Nebraska does not. It must be a flawed computer that gives the fourth ranked team, which did not even win its conference, a shot at the national title. Bowl games have served college football well and are a huge source of revenue. Admittedly there are two many bowl games. Does a 5-6 North Texas team deserve to go a bowl? Obviously not. The BCS is a failed experiment which needs to be scrapped. What should replace it is not so obvious.