There is still one game to go (Orange Bowl on Wednesday night) in the state of Florida’s bowl bonanza, but so far we have seen the evidence of how important it is to have the right matchup.
Just look at the announced attendance for the bowls which have been played:
Champs — 68,305.
Capital One — 61,351.
Gator — 61,312.
Outback — 49,429.
Beef O’Brady’s — 20,072.
The Champs Bowl had a great matchup based on tradition and history. Ditto the Gator. As a result, both bowls went over the 60,000 mark. So did the Cap One because Nebraska fans are among the best when it comes to travel and Gamecock fans were coming off a strong finish.
But the Outback matched up two excellent teams who lost their last games of the year. Dawgs wanted to go to the Sugar, Spartans to the Rose. Each lost its conference title game.
This bowl stuff is tricky business.
