The Florida Gators were projected to make the College Football Playoffs this time last week but have since fallen to the Missouri Tigers, knocking them out of the picture for now.
Following their Week 5 loss, Sports Illustrated projects the Gators will remain in the Sunshine State to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, 100 miles down the road in Orlando, Florida.
Florida has faced Nebraska twice: in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, where the Gators suffered a devastating 62-24 loss, to propel the Cornhuskers to their second straight national championship, and in the 1974 Sugar Bowl, where the Orange and Blue lost, 13-10.
The Citrus Bowl has had many names throughout the years.
The Orlando Bowl began as the Tangerine Bowl from 1947
to 1982; then, as corporate sponsorships and major network broadcasts like NBC entered the picture, it became the Florida Citrus Bowl for 10 years.
The bowl game would then go through various sponsors, including Capital One, Buffalo Wild Wings and Vrbo, before most recently settling on Cheez-It in 2022.
The Gators have competed in the Citrus Bowl six times and have a 2-4 record. Their most recent appearance was in 2016, when they played the Michigan Wolverines and lost, 41-7. Florida hasn't won a Citrus Bowl since 1998, when they beat the Penn State Nittany Lions, 21-6.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Gators to play in this Florida venue in the latest bowl projections
