The 2018 Outback Bowl was an American

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 ...

played on January 1, 2018, at

Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The se ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. The 32nd annual

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 ...

was one of the 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games concluding the

2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and end ...

. The game was nationally televised on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

, and its title sponsor is the

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia ...

restaurant franchise.

Teams

The game featured the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, and the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

of 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 ...

in their fourth meeting against each other, and second meeting in the Outback Bowl.

Michigan

After finishing their regular season with an 8–4 record, the Wolverines were selected to their sixth Outback Bowl appearance, the most Outback Bowl appearances by any team. This was their 46th bowl game appearance, the 11th-highest total all-time among FBS schools.

South Carolina

After finishing their regular season with an 8–4 record, the Gamecocks were selected to their fifth Outback Bowl appearance, tying them with four other teams for the second-most Outback Bowl appearances. This was their 22nd bowl game appearance. South Carolina won the previous meeting against the Michigan Wolverines in the

2013 Outback Bowl The 2013 Outback Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 1, 2013, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as part of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season. It was the 27th edition of the Outback Bowl, named afte ...

, by a score of 33–28.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Statistics

Mascot

The 2018 Outback Bowl marked the first appearance of ''

SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the network ...

'' sportswriter and mixed martial artist Ryan Nanni as the Bloomin' Onion mascot.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Outback Bowl 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2018 Outback Bowl 2018 Outback Bowl 2018 in sports in Florida January 2018 sports events in the United States