The 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl was
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
between the
Clemson Tigers
The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...
and the
Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
played in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
on December 31, 2007. With sponsorship from
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
, it was the 40th edition of the game known throughout most of its history as the
Peach Bowl
The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...
. Clemson University represented the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
(ACC) and Auburn University represented the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
(SEC) in the competition. The game was the final competition of the
2007 football season for each team. In exchange for the right to pick the first ACC team after the
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...
selections, bowl representatives paid
$3.25 million to the ACC, while the SEC, whose fifth team was selected, received $2.4 million. The combined $5.65 million payout is the seventh-largest among all college football bowl games, and the fourth-largest non-BCS bowl game payout.
Selection process
Beginning with the 2006 game, the Chick-fil-A Bowl had purchased the right to select the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team after representatives from the
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...
made their selection. According to the official selection rules still used today, the team chosen to represent the ACC must be within one conference victory of the remaining, highest-ranked conference team or be ranked more than five spaces ahead of the ACC team with the best Conference record available in the final BCS Standings.
In choosing the SEC opponent, the Chick-fil-A Bowl selection committee had the right to select the first SEC school after the Bowl Championship Series,
Cotton Bowl Classic
The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
,
Capital One Bowl
The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic.
The gam ...
, and
Outback Bowl
The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...
made their selections. Just as in the ACC, the selection committee could not select an SEC team with two fewer losses than the highest available team. The bowl earned the right to select these teams via its multimillion-dollar payout system, which guarantees a certain amount of money to the participating conferences. Prior to 2006, the Chick-fil-A Bowl (then known as the Peach Bowl) matched the No. 5 team in the SEC versus the No. 3 team in the ACC. After the bowl increased its payout to $2.8 million per squad, it then was given the second pick from the ACC, with the Gator Bowl dropping to third.
["Georgia-Va Tech In Peach Bowl Just About Set" AOL Sports](_blank)
The Fanhouse, AOL Sports, November 30, 2006. Accessed October 30, 2007.
Leeman Bennett
Leeman Bennett (born June 20, 1938) is a former American football coach who served at both the collegiate and professional levels, but is best remembered as head coach of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
...
, the former head coach of the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
, served as chairman of the selection committee, which had the task of picking the best teams from those made available by the selection criteria set by the two conferences. The committee would have approximately one month to select the two teams that would attract the most people to the game and generate the largest possible television audience. Supervising the selection committee was the Chick-fil-A Bowl Executive Committee, which consisted of representatives from various Atlanta businesses and the
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
corporation.
Pre-game buildup
On December 2, 2007, Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives selected Clemson to represent the ACC in the 2007
Chick-fil-A Bowl. A few hours later, Auburn was selected as the second half of the matchup. Two days after the selections were announced, the game was declared sold out, the 11th consecutive sellout in the combined history of the Peach and Chick-fil-A Bowls. Clemson was allocated 17,500 tickets for distribution and Auburn was allocated 15,700
Casinos and betting organizations favor Clemson by 2½-3 points when setting their
point spread
Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting.
...
.
Defensive matchups
Both defenses rank in the top ten, nationally, in both total defense and scoring defense.
Heading into the game, Auburn was ranked sixth in scoring defense,
allowing an average of just 16.7 points per game, and eighth in total defense,
giving up only 298.33 yards per game. Clemson was ranked sixth in total defense,
giving up only 297.08 yards per game, and tenth in scoring defense,
allowing an average of just 18.3 points per game.
Television coverage
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
broadcast the game for the 12th straight year. Following the game, ESPN broadcast a
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
special, ''
New Year No Limits'', which featured
action sports
Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...
athletes in record setting attempts.
The preview show, "The 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl Preview Show, presented by Russell Athletic" aired on ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN Classic, and was produced by Seals Communications Corporation in Atlanta. It was hosted by
Lee Corso
Lee Richard Corso (born August 7, 1935) is an American sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN and a former coach. He has been a featured analyst on ESPN's '' College GameDay'' program since its inception in 1987. Corso served as the he ...
and Erin Andrews, along with reporters David Hamilton and Nikky Williams.
AT&T "Kick for a Million" contest
During halftime, Christopher Stewart of Corryton, TN was the winner of a national drawing for the AT&T "Kick for a Million" contest. Christopher elected to attempt a 30-yard field goal for a prize of $100,000. Christopher would miss the kick to the right by inches, but still came away with a cash prize of $5,000.
Final statistics
See also
*
2007 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
*
Auburn–Clemson football rivalry
The Auburn–Clemson football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers.
Series history
The rivalry began in 1899 and was played almost annually up until 1929. It was renewed in 1940 on an ann ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Peach Bowl
Clemson Tigers football bowl games
Auburn Tigers football bowl games
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
December 2007 sports events in the United States
2007 in Atlanta