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The Gator Bowl is a college football bowl tradition that goes all the way back to 1945. This is a game that is at the tail end of the college football bowl schedule each year, which usually means it is one of the marquee matchups on the schedule. Here, we break down this year’s edition of the Gator Bowl and look back at the history of this contest that has seen some of the biggest programs and best players in college football history participate.
2023 Gator Bowl Analysis
In this year’s Gator Bowl, the Clemson Tigers will take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Both teams had solid but not spectacular seasons in their respective conferences, putting them in a late bowl game without it being one of the New Year’s Six. How exciting that is for these teams could determine how this game ends up going on the field in Jacksonville.
For Kentucky, ending up in a bowl game like this has to be seen as a win, as they are in the incredibly tough SEC and can never rely on putting together a dominant campaign. Meanwhile, Clemson is usually the class of the much weaker ACC, and will be disappointed to be here and not in the College Football Playoff. It will be interesting to see whether Kentucky comes out with more of an edge with that in mind.
Gator Bowl History
The first edition of the Gator Bowl was played in the 1945 college football season and this game has featured some of the biggest programs in college football on a consistent basis. It currently has tie-ins to the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC, with previous tie-ins with the Big East, Notre Dame, and the Big 12 as well. With this game having tie-ins to the top-two conferences in the sport, a quality matchup is almost a guarantee at this point. Below is the full list of matchups for the Gator Bowl, dating back all the way to the 1945 season, including the winners and losers of each edition of the contest.
Year | Winners | Runners-Up |
1945 | Wake Forest | South Carolina |
1946 | Oklahoma | NC State |
1947 | Georgia | Maryland |
1948 | Clemson | Missouri |
1949 | Maryland | Missouri |
1950 | Wyoming | Washington & Lee |
1951 | Miami | Clemson |
1952 | Florida | Tulsa |
1953 | Texas Tech | Auburn |
1954 | Auburn | Baylor |
1955 | Vanderbilt | Auburn |
1956 | Georgia Tech | Pittsburgh |
1957 | Tennessee | Texas A&M |
1958 | Ole Miss | Florida |
1959 | Arkansas | Georgia Tech |
1960 | Florida | Baylor |
1961 | Penn State | Georgia Tech |
1962 | Florida | Penn State |
1963 | North Carolina | Air Force |
1964 | Florida State | Oklahoma |
1965 | Georgia Tech | Texas Tech |
1966 | Tennessee | Syracuse |
1967 | Penn State | Florida State |
1968 | Missouri | Alabama |
1969 | Florida | Tennessee |
1970 | Auburn | Ole Miss |
1971 | Georgia | North Carolina |
1972 | Auburn | Colorado |
1973 | Texas Tech | Tennessee |
1974 | Auburn | Texas |
1975 | Maryland | Florida |
1976 | Notre Dame | Penn State |
1977 | Pittsburgh | Clemson |
1978 | Clemson | Ohio State |
1979 | North Carolina | Michigan |
1980 | Pittsburgh | South Carolina |
1981 | North Carolina | Arkansas |
1982 | Florida State | West Virginia |
1983 | Florida | Iowa |
1984 | Oklahoma State | South Carolina |
1985 | Florida State | Oklahoma State |
1986 | Clemson | Stanford |
1987 | LSU | South Carolina |
1988 | Georgia | Michigan State |
1989 | Clemson | West Virginia |
1990 | Michigan | Ole Miss |
1991 | Oklahoma | Virginia |
1992 | Florida | NC State |
1993 | Alabama | North Carolina |
1994 | Tennessee | Virginia Tech |
1995 | Syracuse | Clemson |
1996 | North Carolina | West Virginia |
1997 | North Carolina | Virginia Tech |
1998 | Georgia Tech | Notre Dame |
1999 | Miami | Georgia Tech |
2000 | Virginia Tech | Clemson |
2001 | Florida State | Virginia Tech |
2002 | NC State | Notre Dame |
2003 | Maryland | West Virginia |
2004 | Florida State | West Virginia |
2005 | Virginia Tech | Louisville |
2006 | West Virginia | Georgia Tech |
2007 | Texas Tech | Virginia |
2008 | Nebraska | Clemson |
2009 | Florida State | West Virginia |
2010 | Mississippi State | Michigan |
2011 | Florida | Ohio State |
2012 | Northwestern | Mississippi State |
2013 | Nebraska | Georgia |
2014 | Tennessee | Iowa |
2015 | Georgia | Penn State |
2016 | Georgia Tech | Kentucky |
2017 | Mississippi State | Louisville |
2018 | Texas A&M | NC State |
2019 | Tennessee | Indiana |
2020 | Kentucky | NC State |
2021 | Wake Forest | Rutgers |
2022 | Notre Dame | South Carolina |
Bowl Game MVPs
In the Gator Bowl, MVPs have been awarded for both the winning and losing teams for all but a few years of its history. But the MVPs on both the winning and losing sides have been some of the best players to pick up a football. Below is the full history of the MVP award for this staple of the college football bowl season since the 1940s.
Year | Winning Team MVP | Losing Team MVP |
1945 | Nick Sacrinty | N/A |
1946 | Joe Golding | N/A |
1947 | Lu Gambino | N/A |
1948 | Bobby Gage | N/A |
1949 | Bob Ward | N/A |
1950 | Eddie Talboom | N/A |
1951 | Jim Dooley | N/A |
1952 | John Hall | Marv Matuszak |
1953 | Bobby Cavazos | Vince Dooley |
1954 | Joe Childress | Billy Hooper |
1955 | Don Orr | Joe Childress |
1956 | Wade Mitchell | Corny Salvaterra |
1957 | Bobby Gordon | John David Crow |
1958 | Bobby Franklin | Dave Hudson |
1959 | Jim Mooty | Maxie Baughan |
1960 | Larry Libertore | Bobby Ply |
1961 | Galen Hall | Joe Auer |
1962 | Tom Shannon | Dave Robinson |
1963 | Ken Willard | David Sicks |
1964 | Steve Tensi & Fred Biletnikoff | Carl McAdams |
1965 | Lenny Snow | Donny Anderson |
1966 | Dewey Warren | Floyd Little |
1967 | Kim Hammond | Tom Sherman |
1968 | Terry McMIllan | Mike Hall |
1969 | Mike Kelley | Curt Watson |
1970 | Pat Sullivan | Archie Manning |
1971 | Jimmy Poulos | James Webster |
1972 | Wade Whatley | Mark Cooney |
1973 | Joe Barnes | Haskel Stanback |
1974 | Phil Gargis | Earl Campbell |
1975 | Steve Atkins | Sammy Green |
1976 | Al Hunter | Jimmy Cefalo |
1977 | Matt Cavanaugh | Jerry Butler |
1978 | Steve Fuller | Art Schlichter |
1979 | Matt Kupec & Amos Lawrence | John Wangler & Anthony Carter |
1980 | Rick Trocano | George Rogers |
1981 | Kelvin Bryant & Ethan Horton | Gary Anderson |
1982 | Greg Allen | Paul Woodside |
1983 | Tony Lilly | Owen Gill |
1984 | Thurman Thomas | Mike Hold |
1985 | Chip Ferguson | Thurman Thomas |
1986 | Rodney Williams | Brad Muster |
1987 | Wendell Davis | Harold Green |
1988 | Wayne Johnson | Andre Rison |
1989 | Levon Kirkland | Mike Fox |
1990 | Michigan Offensive Line | Tyrone Ashley |
1991 | Cale Gundy | Tyrone Davis |
1992 | Errict Rhett | Reggie Lawrence |
1993 | Brian Burgdorf | Corey Holliday |
1994 | James Stewart | Maurice DeShazo |
1995 | Donovan McNabb | Peter Ford |
1996 | Oscar Davenport | David Saunders |
1997 | Chris Keldorf | Nick Sorensen |
1998 | Dez White & Joe Hamilton | Autry Denson |
1999 | Nate Webster | Joe Hamilton |
2000 | Michael Vick | Rod Gardner |
2001 | Javon Walker | Andre Davis |
2002 | Philip Rivers | Cedric Hillard |
2003 | Scott McBrien | Brian King |
2004 | Leon Washington | Kay-Jay Harris |
2005 | Cedric Humes | Hunter Cantwell |
2006 | Pat White | Calvin Johnson |
2007 | Graham Harrell | Chris Long |
2008 | Joe Ganz | DaQuan Bowers |
2009 | EJ Manuel | Noel Devine |
2010 | Chris Relf | Denard Robinson |
2011 | Andre Debose | Etienne Sabino |
2012 | Jared Carpenter | Nickoe Whitley |
2013 | Quincy Enunwa | Todd Gurley |
2014 | Joshua Dobbs | Josey Jewell |
2015 | Terry Godwin | Trace McSorley |
2016 | Dedrick Mills | Stephen Johnson II |
2017 | Marc McLaurin | Lamar Jackson |
2018 | Trayveon Williams | Ryan Finley |
2019 | Eric Gray | Peyton Ramsey |
2020 | Asim Rose Jr. | Zonovan Knight |
2021 | Sam Hartman | Johnny Langan |
2022 | Tyler Buchner | N/A |
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