Citrus Bowl
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
Stadium	Camping World Stadium
Location	Orlando, Florida
Temporary venue	Florida Field,Gainesville, Florida (1973)
Operated	1947–present
Conference tie-ins	Big Ten,SEC
Previous conference tie-ins	MAC (1968–1975) SoCon (1968–1972) ACC (1987–1991)
Payout	US$8,224,578 (2019 season)[1]
Website	cheezitcitrusbowl.com
Sponsors
Florida Citrus Growers Association (1983–2002) CompUSA (1994–1999) Ourhouse.com (2000) Capital One (2001–2014) Buffalo Wild Wings (2015–2017) Overton's (2018) Vrbo (2019–2022) Cheez-It (2023–present)
Former names
Tangerine Bowl (1947–1982)[a] Florida Citrus Bowl (1983–1993) CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl (1994–1999) Ourhouse.com Florida Citrus Bowl (2000) Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (2001–2002) Capital One Bowl (2003–2014) Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl (2015–2017) Citrus Bowl presented by Overton's (2018) Vrbo Citrus Bowl (2019–2021)
2023 matchup
Iowa vs.Tennessee (Tennessee 35–0)
2024 matchup
South Carolina vs.Illinois (Illinois 21–17)

TheCitrus Bowl is an annualcollege footballbowl game played atCamping World Stadium inOrlando, Florida.^[2] The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes thePop-Tarts Bowl andFlorida Classic.

The game was first played as theTangerine Bowl in 1947 before being renamed as theFlorida Citrus Bowl in 1983. WhenCapital One was the game's title sponsor between 2001 and 2014, the game was referred to as theCapital One Bowl from 2003 to 2014. Other previous sponsors includeCompUSA (1994–1999), Ourhouse.com (2000),Buffalo Wild Wings (2015–2017), Overton's (2018), and Vrbo (2019–2022). On November 15, 2022,Kellogg's (renamed Kellanova after the company spun off its North American cereal business in 2023 asWK Kellogg Co) signed on as title sponsor of the game, placing itsCheez-It brand of snack crackers in the title position. Accordingly, the game is officially named theCheez-It Citrus Bowl.^[3]

Since the mid-1980s, the Citrus Bowl has drawn many high-ranked teams and is typically played at 1 p.m.EST onNew Year's Day and broadcast nationally onABC. When January 1 is a Sunday, the game has been played on January 2 or December 31, to avoid conflicting with theNational Football League (NFL) schedule. As of 2019^[update], it has the largest payout of all bowls other than those that are part of theCollege Football Playoff (CFP), at $8.55 million per team.^[4] In nearly every year since 1985, the game has featured two teams ranked in theTop 25.

The game, which began play in 1947, is one of the oldest of the non-CFP bowls, along with theGator Bowl andSun Bowl. By 1952, the game was dubbed the "Little Bowl with the Big Heart", because all the proceeds from the game went to charity.^[5]

From 1964 through 1967, it was one of the fourregional finals in the College Division (which becameDivision II andDivision III in 1973), along with thePecan,Grantland Rice, andCamellia bowls. In this capacity, the Tangerine Bowl sought to match the two best non-major teams in a 17-state Eastern Region stretching from New England to Florida.

In 1968, theBoardwalk Bowl inAtlantic City took over as the College Division Eastern regional final, and the Tangerine Bowl became a major college bowl game, featuring teams from the University Division (which becameDivision I in 1973).

The Tangerine Bowl name was used through the December 1982 game. The same name was re-used later, but for a bowl game with a different lineage.

In March 1983, the name of the game was changed from Tangerine Bowl to Florida Citrus Bowl, via a $1.25 million agreement with the Florida Citrus Commission; the bowl's organizing committee also changed its name from Tangerine Sports Association to Florida Citrus Sports Association.^[6] A month earlier, organizers had rejected a proposal to rename the game to Grapefruit Bowl.^[7]

In 1986, it was one of the bowl games considered for the site of the "winner take all"national championship game betweenPenn State andMiami, before theFiesta Bowl was eventually chosen.

The January 1991 game had national championship implications for the 1990 season;Georgia Tech won the Florida Citrus Bowl, finished 11–0–1, and was voted the 1990UPI national champion. That occurrence marks a rare example of a non-New Year's Six bowl game featuring a team later named national champion.

The January 1, 1998, game, which featured nearbyFlorida beatingPenn State, holds the game's attendance record at 72,940.

Starting with the January 2003 edition, the bowl was renamed as the Capital One Bowl, with title sponsorship byCapital One.

In 2004, the bowl bid to become the fifthBCS game, but was not chosen, primarily due to the stadium's aging condition. In July 2007, theOrange County Commissioners voted in favor of spending $1.1 billion to build theAmway Center for theOrlando Magic, theDr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and to upgrade the Citrus Bowl stadium.

Following the January 2014 game, Capital One ceased its sponsorship of the bowl, and moved its sponsorship to theOrange Bowl.^[8]

Buffalo Wild Wings was announced as the new sponsor of the bowl game, which was renamed as Citrus Bowl, for the January 2015 edition. Buffalo Wild Wings had previously been the title sponsor of what had been theInsight Bowl.^[9] In the offseason of 2017, Buffalo Wild Wings ceased sponsoring the bowl. Following sponsorship by Overton's (2018) andVrbo (2019–2022),Kellogg's became the title sponsor in November 2022, via itsCheez-It brand.^[10]

The 2016 season game was played on December 31, the first time in 30 years that the game was not played on January 1 or 2.

From 1968 through 1975, the bowl featured theMid-American Conference (MAC) champion against an opponent from theSouthern Conference (1968–1971), theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) (1973–1974), or an at-large opponent (1972, 1975). MAC teams were 6–2 during those games.

As the major football conferences relaxed restrictions on post-season play in the mid-1970s, the bowl went to a matchup between two at-large teams from major conferences, with one school typically (but not always) from the South.

From the 1987 season through the 1991 season, the bowl featured theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion against an at-large opponent. ACC teams were 3–2 during those games.

From the 1992 season through the 2015 season, the bowl featured an SEC vs.Big Ten matchup – the SEC won 14 of those games, while the Big Ten won 10.

During the 1990s, the second-place finisher in the SEC typically went to this bowl. Florida coachSteve Spurrier, speaking to the fact thatTennessee occupied that spot three of four years as Florida finished first, famously quipped "You can't spell 'Citrus' withoutU-T!"^[11]

Currently, the bowl has tie-ins with the SEC and the Big Ten, holding the first selection after the CFP selection process for both conferences. Since the formation of the CFP, the Citrus Bowl has a chance to occasionally host an ACC team, replacing the Big Ten representative. This will happen the years in which theOrange Bowl is not a CFP semi-final game and selects a Big Ten team to match against their ACC team. This happened following the 2016 season, as the Orange Bowl was not a CFP semi-final and invitedMichigan of the Big Ten to faceFlorida State of the ACC; the Citrus Bowl then invitedLouisville of the ACC to faceLSU of the SEC.^[12] The next year,Wisconsin was invited to the Orange Bowl, so the SEC's LSU was pitted againstNotre Dame, who received an invite in lieu of an ACC team.

The undefeated 1955Hillsdale College football team refused an invitation to the January 1956 edition of the bowl when bowl officials insisted that Hillsdale's fourAfrican-American players would not be allowed to play in the game.^[13][14]

TheUniversity at Buffalo's first bowl bid was to the December 1958 edition. The Tangerine Bowl Commission hoped that the Orlando High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), which operated the stadium, would waive its rule that prohibited integrated sporting events. When it refused, the team unanimously voted to skip the bowl because its two black players (halfbackWillie Evans and end Mike Wilson) would not have been allowed on the field.^[15] Buffalo did not become bowl-eligible for another 50 years. During the2008 season, when the Bulls were on the verge of bowl eligibility, the 1958 team was profiled onESPN'sOutside the Lines.^[16][17] The 2008 team went on to win theMid-American Conferencetitle, and played in theInternational Bowl.

Eight years later, OHSAA's rule had been changed, andMorgan State ofBaltimore, under head coachEarl Banks, became the firsthistorically black college to play in (and win) a Tangerine Bowl.^[18]

In early 1973, construction improvements were planned for the then 17,000-seat Tangerine Bowl stadium to expand to over 51,000 seats. In early summer 1973, however, construction was stalled due to legal concerns, and the improvements were delayed. Late in the1973 season, Tangerine Bowl President Will Gieger and other officials planned to invite theMiami Redskins and theEast Carolina Pirates to Orlando for the game. On November 19, 1973, East Carolina withdrew from bowl consideration when no invitation arrived before Thanksgiving break,^[19] and the bowl was left with one at-large bid. In an unexpected and unprecedented move, game officials decided to invite theFlorida Gators, and move the game toFlorida Field inGainesville, the Gators' home stadium. The larger stadium was needed to accommodate the large crowd expected. The move required special permission from theNCAA, and special accommodations were made.^[20] Both teams were headquartered in Orlando for the week, and spent most of their time there, including practices, and were bused up to Gainesville.

The participants were greeted with an unexpected event, a near-record low temperature of 25 °F (−4 °C). Despite the home-field advantage, in the game nicknamed the "Transplant Bowl",^[21] Miami, who found the cold much more to its liking, defeated the Gators, 16–7. One of the players on the victorious Redskins squad was future Gators coachRon Zook.

The one-time moving of the game, and the fears of a permanent relocation, rejuvenated the stalled stadium renovations in Orlando. The game returned to Orlando for 1974, and within a couple of years, the expansion project was complete.

The "Capital One Mascot Challenge" (formerly known as the "Capital One National Mascot of the Year") was a contest where fans voted for their favorite collegemascot. The contest began in 2002 with the winner being named during the halftime; the winning school was awarded $20,000 towards their mascot program. With the ending of Capital One's sponsorship of the Citrus Bowl, the challenge was moved in 2014 to theOrange Bowl with Capital One's sponsorship of that game. The 2014 season was also the last time that the contest was held.^[22]

Rankings are based on theAP poll prior to the game being played.Italics denote a tie game.

Source:^[23]

Multiple players were recognized in some games – detail, where known, is denoted with B (outstanding back), L (outstanding lineman), O (outstanding offensive player), D (outstanding defensive player), or M (overall MVP) per contemporary newspaper reports.

Source:^[24]

Three players have been recognized in multiple games; Chuck Ealey of Toledo (1969, 1970, 1971), Brad Cousino of Miami (OH) (1973, 1974), and Anthony Thomas of Michigan (1999, 2001).

Note: this section reflects games played since 1968, when the bowl started hosting major college teams.

Tennessee has the most wins by a single team with 5.Florida andPenn State have the most losses by a single team with 4.

Updated through the December 2024 edition (57 games, 114 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (6):California,Georgia Tech,NC State,Notre Dame,Oklahoma State,Tampa
Lost (14):Boston College,Davidson,Kent State,Louisville,Minnesota,Ohio,Oklahoma,Pittsburgh,Southern Miss,Texas Tech,USC,Virginia,Wake Forest,William & Mary

Note: this table reflects games played since 1968, when the bowl started hosting major college teams.

Updated through the December 2024 edition (57 games, 114 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Records are based on a team's conference affiliation at the time the game was played; for example, Penn State has appeared both as a Big Ten team and as an Independent team.
• Conferences that are defunct or not currently active in FBS are marked initalics.
• Independent appearances: Boston College (1982), Florida State (1977, 1984), Notre Dame (2017*), Penn State (1987*), Pittsburgh (1978), South Carolina (1975), Southern Miss (1981), and Tampa (1972).

Source:^[25][26]

The bowl has been broadcast byMizlou (1976–1983),NBC (1984–1985), andABC since then, with the exception ofESPN for the 2011 and 2012 editions.^[27] Broadcast information for earlier editions of the bowl is lacking.

• Orlando Sentinel-Star (November 20, 1973); Various articles- Accessed via microfilm 01-03-2007.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCitrus Bowl (game).

• Official website

• Citrus Bowl (game)
• College football bowls
• Recurring sporting events established in 1947
• American football in Orlando, Florida
• 1947 establishments in Florida
• New Year's Day

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019
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