Following Florida football's Week 2 victory over the Campbell Fighting Camels at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, CBS Sports writer Chip Patterson has a new bowl game destination and opponent for the Orange and Blue.
Patterson now has the Gators facing Jon Sumrall's old team, the Tulane Green Wave, in the Gasparilla Bowl, which takes place in Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 18. It would be the third time in the program's last three postseason appearances that it played in the in-state event.
The last time the Gators played in the Gasparilla Bowl was in 2024, when Sumrall was in his first season at the helm of the Green Wave. His team fell to the Billy Napier-led Gators, 33-8, due to strong performances from quarterback DJ Lagway and running back Jadan Baugh.
Florida lost its only other Gasparilla Bowl matchup — a 29-17 loss to the UCF Knights in 2021 — in the final season of the Dan Mullen era. Greg Knox served as interim head coach after Mullen was dismissed with one game remaining on the regular-season schedule and Emory Jones played at quarterback despite already announcing his transfer portal intentions.
The Gators and Green Wave have met 22 times before on the collegiate gridiron, with Florida leading the all-time series with a 14-6-2 record. The last time Tulane prevailed was all the way back in 1946; UF finished 0-9 that season.
Patterson had previously projected Florida to take on the NC State Wolfpack in the Birmingham Bowl after Week 1.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Where CBS Sports sees Florida playing its bowl game after Week 2
