Florida Sports Wires

MIKE BONTS JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Heather Duncan, chairwoman of the TaxSlayer Bowl, announced today that Pennsylvania State University will play the University of Georgia in the Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl.  “Both Penn State and Georgia have storied football programs with fantastic fan bases,” said Duncan.  “We are thrilled to host these two top-notch teams and their players, coaches and fans in Jacksonville for a great day of football.” The Nittany Lions and the Bulldogs have only squared off once, in 1983’s Sugar Bowl, as the teams battled for the National Championship.  Penn State defeated Georgia by a score of 27-23. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Penn State and Georgia play in the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl,” said TaxSlayer President Jimmy Rhodes. “We know the competitive matchup will be a highlight for college football fans traveling to Jacksonville and watching from home. There’s no better way to kickoff tax season than with a great American tradition...

By MIKE BONTS COLLEGE BOWL NEWS ORLANDO, Fla. – The 14th-ranked University of Michigan football team will be heading to Florida over the holiday season, squaring off against the 19th-ranked Florida Gators in the 2016 Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on Friday, Jan. 1, 2016. This will be the Wolverines fifth appearance in the Citrus Bowl. The game pitting the Wolverines (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten) against the Gators (10-3, 7-1 SEC) will kick-off at 1 p.m. EST from Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando. The New Year’s Day bowl match-up will be televised nationally by ABC. U-M will be seeking a double-digit win total for the 27th time in the 136-year history of the program. After dropping the season opener at Utah, the Wolverines rattled off five straight victories, including three consecutive shutouts over No. 22 BYU, Maryland and Northwestern. Michigan rebounded from a last-second loss to No. 7 Michigan State with four consecutive victories in Big Ten play before a season-ending setback to No. 8 O...

No. 9 FSU (10-2) received an invitation Sunday to play in the Chick-fil-AP each Bowl in Atlanta. The Seminoles will face No. 18 Houston (12-1) at noon on Dec. 31 in the Georgia Dome. ESPN will broadcast the contest. The Peach Bowl is part of the prestigious New Year’s Six rotation. Two of the six bowls in the New Year’s Six serve as semifinal games in the College Football Playoff, while the other four contests feature the next tier of teams that missed the playoffs, as determined by the selection committee. Making an appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl is a significant victory for FSU. The Seminoles were in a rebuilding year after losing more than a dozen starters from a squad that made the national semifinal the previous season.  FSU endured growing pains in the middle of the season, narrowly losing to Georgia Tech and Clemson, and fell out of playoff contention. The young squad, however, exhibited signs of maturity by then winning its final three games of the regular season...

By MIKE BONTS COLLEGE BOWL NEWS The College Football Playoff Selection Committee announced today the top four teams in the final rankings of the 2015 regular season. No. 1 is Clemson. No. 2 is Alabama. No. 3 is Michigan State. No. 4 is Oklahoma. “We now have the full body of work to evaluate all of the teams,” said selection chairman Jeff Long.  “The committee viewed Clemson and Alabama as clear-cut.  We had a lengthy discussion about Michigan State and Oklahoma.  The committee saw those two teams as very closely matched.  They are both conference champions and both 4-0 against top 25 teams.  Ultimately Michigan State’s two wins against top ten teams gave them the edge.” No. 1 Clemson will face No. 4 Oklahoma in the Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.  No. 2 Alabama will face No. 3 Michigan State in the Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.   The winners will meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship ...

By MIKE BONTS COLLEGE BOWL NEWS Houston defeated Temple, 24-13, to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference Football Championship. Houston won its 11th conference championship in program history. The Cougars last won a conference title in football in 2006, when they won the Conference USA crown. Houston improved to 3-0 against ranked teams this season. The Cougars also defeated No. 25 Memphis Nov. 14 and No. 16 Navy Nov. 27. Temple fell to 0-2 against ranked teams. The Owls lost to No. 9 Notre Dame Oct. 31. Houston has won four American Athletic Conference championships in all sports since the formation of the league in the 2013-14 academic year. In addition to this year’s football title, Houston won American titles in baseball and men’s outdoor track and field in 2013-14 and in men’s indoor track and field in 2014-15. Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 88 yards, was named the first American Athletic Conference Footb...

MIAMI, Fla. – Following a 9-2 season and posting their 30th win as a class, six members of Jacksonville’s 2015 football team have been selected to play in the fifth Annual National Bowl Game at Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Sunday, December 6. Andy Jones (#4), Dallas Jackson (#28), Matthew Passeggiata (#44), Logan Williamson (#56), Tyler Adrian (#70), and TJ Jenkins (#93) will play for the white team. Jones, a senior wide receiver from Clermont, Fla., was second in the Pioneer Football League in receiving touchdowns (8) and receiving yards (890) and played in 10 of Jacksonville’s 11 games because of injury. He was third with 6.0 receptions per game, and sixth with 14.83 yards-per-catch. Jones finished his Jacksonville career second in receptions (141) and receiving yards (2,105). Jackson was a ball-hawking safety that twice tied the school record for single-season interceptions with five over the last two seasons. He concluded his Dolphin career with 11 pick...

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami Director of Athletics Blake James announced today the hiring of Hurricane alumnus Mark Richt as the 24th head football coach at The U. “Coach Richt embodies the competitiveness, the integrity, the passion, the abilities, and the experience to lead our young men to ACC and national championships and help them become men of character and success long after,” James said. “His passion for the game of football and for his student-athletes is evident in everything he does and we could not be more excited to welcome Mark and Katharyn and their family to Coral Gables.” Richt, born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Boca Raton, Florida, returns to his alma mater after leading the University of Georgia football program for the past 15 years, compiling a 145-51 overall record and an 85-40 mark in Southeastern Conference play, winning two SEC championships, six SEC East titles and nine bowl games and finishing the season in the Associated Press Top Ten ...