By EARL COX
Sports Columnist
So the University of Louisville's Gator Bowl isn't in the Bowl Championship Series, but it's not rinky-dink by any means.
The Jacksonville bowl is in the second tier of bowls, along with the Cotton, the Outback and the Capital One – all played on Jan. 2, the same day that two of the BCS bowls will be played, the Fiesta and the Sugar. Normally the Sugar is played in New Orleans, but because of the Gulf Coast storms, it is being played in Atlanta this year.
Another BCS bowl, the Orange, will be played Jan. 3, and the Rose Bowl for the national championship between undefeated Southern Cal and Texas will be played on Jan. 4.
U of L and its opponent, Virginia Tech, will share a Gator Bowl payout of more than $3 million.
Notre Dame was in the Gator
To show you the caliber of past Gator Bowl participants, one little school that has a pretty good football history must be mentioned first, Notre Dame.
Ten of the 12 Southeastern Conference teams have graced the Gator Bowl: Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Among other perennial powers that have seen Gator Bowl action: Florida State, Miami, Oklahoma, Michigan, Penn State and Pittsburgh. Virginia Tech defeated Clemson 41-20 in 2001. Tech is 1-3 in the Gator, having lost 30-17 to Florida State in 2002, 45-23 to Tennessee in 1994 and 42-3 to North Carolina in 1998.
Biggest crowd was 82,138
The biggest crowd was drawn by Oklahoma State and South Carolina in 1984 when 82,138 saw the Cowboys edge the Gamecocks 21-14.
U of L and Virginia Tech have played six times, with the Hokies holding a 4-2 advantage. The Cardinals won the last meeting 21-17 in 1992 in Louisville.
The schools played two common opponents this season, North Carolina and West Virginia. U of L defeated the Tar Heels 69-14 and lost 46-44 in triple overtime at West Virgina. Tech beat West Virginia 34-17 and won 30-3 over North Carolina.
