Georgia vs. Nebraska in Capital One Bowl (UPDATED w/ comments)
(Updated 10 p.m.)
A day after coming up five yards short of a trip to Miami for the national championship game, Georgia’s football team learned Sunday that it will play a bowl game in a different Florida city.
The Bulldogs (11-2) will play Nebraska (10-3) in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1 in a matchup of the losers of the SEC and Big Ten championship games.
While Georgia lost the SEC title to Alabama 32-28 on the final play of a stirring game, Nebraska endured an embarrassing 70-31 loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game.
The Capital One, which holds first choice of SEC teams after the BCS games, had been rumored to be considering Texas A&M and its Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Johnny Manziel. But after Georgia’s strong performance against Alabama, the bowl opted to take the Bulldogs, who dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in the final BCS standings released Sunday night.
Notre Dame and Alabama remained Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, and will meet in the national championship game on Jan. 7 in Miami. Alabama survived an SEC title game that saw the lead change hands five times and ended with Georgia on the Crimson Tide’s 5-yard line as time ran out.
Florida moved up to No. 3 in the BCS standings Sunday and, as the second highest ranked SEC team, will go to the Sugar Bowl to play Big East co-champ Louisville.
Other BCS games will match Pac-12 champion Stanford vs. Big Ten champ Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, Big 12 co-champ Kansas State vs. BCS No. 4 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl and ACC champ Florida State vs. Mid-American champ Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl. In the latest controversial chapter of BCS history, Northern Illinois (12-1) received a BCS berth by being ranked in the top 16 (No. 15) and ahead of at least one champion of an automatic-qualifying conference.
After Florida passed Georgia in the rankings, UGA was locked out of a shot at a BCS game because of a rule allowing no more than two teams from a single league to get BCS bids, a rule that Alabama coach Nick Saban sharply criticized after beating the Bulldogs. Saban called it “a crying shame” and “ridiculous” that Georgia would be excluded from a BCS invitation.
Actually, Georgia appeared in danger of falling farther down the bowl pecking order than the Capital One. But that’s where the Bulldogs landed after some late scrambling among bowls triggered by Northern Illinois earning a BCS berth at the expense of Oklahoma.
“If we weren’t going to be in a BCS game, this is the location we wanted to be,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Sunday night.
But McGarity added, “There’s no question — there’s absolutely no question — that we are deserving of a BCS bid. … There’s no question we played great the last half of the season and just to see the way we laid it on the line (Saturday) proved that we’re right there along with the best in college football.”
Capital One Bowl CEO Steve Hogan called the selection of Georgia “an easy decision” in the end.
“No offense to Texas A&M,” Hogan said. “I think they’ve had a fine first year in the conference, a 10-win team. And we have an opportunity to get an 11-win division champion, a few yards away from a national championship.
“The most important thing to our committee was, Georgia deserved this trip. And we’re fortunate to have a team, really, that is of BCS quality.”
After the Capital One selected Georgia, the Outback, which had the next pick from the SEC East, chose South Carolina to play Michigan. And the Cotton, with the next pick from the SEC West, chose Texas A&M to form a marquee matchup against surprisingly available Oklahoma.
The Capital One Bowl will be played at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day in Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium and will be televised on ABC.
Georgia coach Mark Richt said he foresees no problem in getting the Bulldogs to bounce back from the disappointment of losing the SEC title game and their national championship aspirations.
“I think playing Nebraska is going to get everybody’s blood pumping,” Richt said. “There aren’t many teams in the history of Georgia football that have ever won 12 games in a season and it’s going to mean something to them. I know our guys want to finish on a high note.”
Georgia and Nebraska have met only once previously in football. Georgia lost to the Cornhuskers 45-6 in the 1969 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
This will be Georgia’s sixth appearance in the Capital One Bowl. The Bulldogs are 3-1-1 in the Orlando game, most recently defeating Michigan State there at the end of the 2008 season.
In Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin, Nebraska’s defense allowed 640 total yards, including 539 yards rushing. Against Alabama, Georgia’s defense surrendered 512 yards, including 350 rushing.
– Tim Tucker, AJC
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841 comments Add your comment
Ralph Kramden
December 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
Capital One Bowl= TOLIET BOWL. FIRE RICHT NOW !!!!!!
Son of Sammy Davis Jr, Jr
December 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
Calm down GA fan. Georgia football like the South, New Gringrich’s libido, and Grandma’s biscuits will rise again.
flo-ri-duh
December 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
There was no interference on the tipped pass call any way ….. that was justice. As for the blatant helmet to helmet cheap shot on Murray – Dial should have been kicked out of the game and Bama should have been penalized 15 yards putting them far back on the other side of the fifty – instead Dial’s act of cowardice was not flagged and Bama got a field goal with 5 seconds left. Never should have been even close enough to try a field goal……. REF was 10 yards away looking right at the cheap shot and did nothing. The ref should be demoted to high school ball or banned all together. That is a disgrace. I would say the same thing if UGA had put a cheap shot on Bama. If you don’t agree with that you are just biased for Bama or against UGA. right is right and that cost UGA the game right there. There are several other examples of “no calls” and bad call by the refs. This cowardly cheap shot is being reviewed by the SEC committee and I expect Dial won’t be at the BCS champ game.
rick
December 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
_uck this _hit we lose a game like that and a team we beat goes to the sugar bowl and we go to the who gives a _hit bowl. Come on Slive why not at least allow us to go to the cotton and play a top ten team. Thanks commish for nothing
Miss Smelly
December 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
I hope Murray
y doesn’t go for the NFL money….WE needs that kind of money at Georgia.
Put in Timeout by Ken Sugiura,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned once by Bill King & Chip Towers but only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
flo-ri-duh
December 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
There was no interference on the tipped pass call any way …
What game were you watching? The Ball was not tipped and there was interference.
Miss Smelly
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
Miss Paula give us a recipe for success!
2 sticks of butter and Coach Richt with 15 seconds to go.
Stevie Ray
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:22 pm
There’s a chance the the Dawgs may overlook Nebraska but it won’t happen. Likely last games for at least 4 of our D who will go 1sr round or early second..I think they will get fired up and try to outscore both Ohio State and Wisconsin and put up 75..amazing how one team can give up a total of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE POINTS in two games..has any bowl eligible team ever done that???
Pat Way
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
Total insult to Dawg Nation Nebraska really yet Northern Ill plays FSU in the orange bowl and louisville plays FL in the Sugar, really Dawgs fans one day the team will learn that morale victories mean nothing, even if Ga wins they will not move up because of playing a team ranked 23 and had 70 put on them
Ralph Kramden
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
Ask any Bulldog fan what the “N” on Nebraska’s helmet stands for, he will thell you “Knowledge”…..
Wise up…. FIRE RICHT !!!
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:33 pm
GA and the sour grapes. Keep it up and you’ll have enough for some wine.
Mark Richt
December 2nd, 2012
8:34 pm
Kingdaddy you are a loser, go back to wafflehouse and make them scattered
Delbert D.
December 2nd, 2012
8:35 pm
Northern Illinois against Clemson should be interesting just to see Jordan Lynch, the Huskies’ freshman QB. He leads the nation in rushing with 1,771 yards and is 25th in passing efficiency with 2,962 yards, 24 TD and 5 INT. Yeah, they are only a MAC team (whose loss was by 1 point to Iowa in the opener), but it’s just the Clemson defense. Might be a 60-50 game.
Stevie Ray
December 2nd, 2012
8:35 pm
flo-ri-duh
December 2nd, 2012
8:29 pm
So what…game is over..I would expect your lizards to throttle Louisville…pretty easy draw…even they didn’t give up 148 points in two games…better than playing Nebraska that’s for sure…
How many O and D players will UF return next year?
Truth Teller
December 2nd, 2012
8:35 pm
Does it ever bother any of you who the ever changing haters and pretend Dawg fans are and what motivates them to live on these blogs to badmouth Georgia? UGA must be a great program, otherwise these nuts wouldn’t be obsessed with the Dawgs like they are. AJC should have a rule: handle and team, then post.
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:36 pm
Agree Stevie Ray but they have got to take care of business. I want the SEC to represent all of the SEC with wins.
Steve
December 2nd, 2012
8:36 pm
Get over yourself leghumper fans. You played three ranked teams this year and lost to two of them. Richt is 2-8 against since 2008 against top ten teams. Gators deserve the BCS bowl game. They beat FOUR top 12 teams this year. Go cry in your puppy chow……….LOL…… By the way, you dropped to #7 in the BCS rankings……..
Ralph Kramden
December 2nd, 2012
8:36 pm
Tell…. typo
Athens
December 2nd, 2012
8:36 pm
Bama fans were very respectful and pretty quiet coming out of the Dome last night. Hardly heard a Rool Tide for a mile.. I suspect they were mostly alums as they represent the school better than the “fans” of either. Go Dawgs!
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:37 pm
My gosh!!! Six SEC the final BCS Top Ten. Can’t argue with who has the best conf.
Tampa Gator
December 2nd, 2012
8:37 pm
Florida finishes #3 in the BCS……..right behind Bama. I wish Florida could play Oregon instead of Louisville.
Miss Smelly
December 2nd, 2012
8:37 pm
Oh my! Weez got all this talent. Reminds me of Tennessee in the 90″s.
Florida #3 in the BCS. But where is da dawgs? Oh they’re they are at #7. What #$$%^####
Pat Way
December 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
Two of Nebraska’s 3 losses they gave up over 60 points, really gave up 70 to a team with 5 losses and they deserve a bowl, of course ga will still be hung over from the bama game and play like they did last year
Steve
December 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
SMS Smelly, maybe you should have played a stronger schedule and not lost two games.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
The BCS means nothing to me. It is still a mythical champion. They have screwed the Bowls up. If they can convince me why Florida should go ahead of UGA, but they can’t. Common sense tells you that you don’t penalize a team for playing in Championship game and also head to head always carries alot of weight. The BCS is crap. I would rather play Nebraska than Louisville though.
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
Pathetic that Northern Illinois vs FLA ST in the Orange Bowl. INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delbert D.
December 2nd, 2012
8:40 pm
No it ain’t, it’s the FSU defense, not Clemson. Momentary brainfart.
Tampa Gator
December 2nd, 2012
8:40 pm
Northern Illinois plays FSU in the Orange Bowl…..get your tickets now…….N.I…..lost to Iowa….and they are going to a BCS game over Georgia. Just amazingly stupid.
Steve
December 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
Hit a single, I know UGA fans are not too bright and your post proves it. Stupid inbreds.
Game Changer
December 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
Chuck Olivers question is 100% relevant, now the sec has to beg cap one to take UGA over lsu and texas a&m. UGA needs to earn relevance —
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
BCS = Bowl Crap System
carolinafan
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
pups get the Crappy ,old 1 bowl. Har Har
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
Agreed Tampa Gator. Northern Illinois as apposed to another SEC school. Pathetic!
Tampa Gator
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
The BCS totally SUCKS. Herbie just said……”The BCS with NI in the BCS….a sad state.”
How right he is.
Ralph Kramden
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
Sugar Bowl ??? Who wants to go to a smelly town like New Orleans anyway ? That town really sucks. Always has, always will…
Woofy One
December 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
Hose job
kral
December 2nd, 2012
8:43 pm
losers proud of loss big misconception..hurt yes…second guess yes..go into fire coach..berate qb..team..you are so much a bigger fan than me..you are totally what this team needs..the irate blogger who would dare not settle for less..you represent what is wrong with all of us self satisified supporters who do not scream at the top of our lungs..no nc ..no big wins..maybe we should hire us a nc caliber coach..there’s one out there free gene chichlett or maybe MACK B could be seduced..I mean he has really been strong lately at TEX
flo-ri-duh
December 2nd, 2012
8:43 pm
Bama is good they don’t need the refs help but they got it. It’s like the TV and money wanted Bama so they did what they had to to get them. Saban knows he was given a gift. Not saying he had any thing to do with the refs but he knows what happened and he knows this was a game that he was very fortunate to get the “W” with. That’s all I’m going to say on this. Go ahead and run your mouth. UGA earned a place in the BCS and got screwed – no way Florida should be ahead of them. How do you move a team from #3 to #6 that lost to the #1 (soon to be ) team in the country and could have won it on the last play of the game with seconds left. None of the teams ranked ahead of UGA now would have beat Bama either. Florida got beat by UGA on the field fair and square. They both had the same record 11 -1 and UGA won the SEC east. They play a close game with the #1 team and get demoted? That’s ridiculous. Florida was given a BCS bid. They did not earn it.
Tampa Gator
December 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
Herbie is very disgusted on ESPN….never seen him this mad. Good for him. What a joke the BCS is. Georgia would beat NI by 90…..jeeeezzzz….Double jeezzzzz. What a bunch of crap.
Miss Smelly
December 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
40 acres and a mule and now we get to go to the Capital One Bowl. We hit the big time!`
Thanks Coach Richt! Do youall think Murray will get the Heisman like Tebow?
Im voting right now!
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
Hey Steve what about my post? Also it takes an inbred to know one.
husker
December 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
Our defense forgot to show up for the wisconsin game… But we were wounded so deeply, we’re going to have something serious to prove when we show up. The last time we played a game under those conditions, we kicked some serious butt. So GA better bring it when they show up for this “nothing” bowl… Because you can be d_mn sure we’ll be serious about truly trying to beat you when we show up.
Tampa Gator
December 2nd, 2012
8:45 pm
Wouldn’t it be great is Florida and Georgia could play again in the Sugar Bowl……that would not be bull crap.
F. Sinkwich
December 2nd, 2012
8:45 pm
Getting up for Nebraska would be easier than getting up for Betty White, but not by much.
Pathetic match-up.
Truth Teller
December 2nd, 2012
8:45 pm
Stevie wrote,
“Hit a single, I know UGA fans are not too bright and your post proves it. Stupid inbreds.”
Inbreds? Go get your GED and come back to see us…
Seriously?
December 2nd, 2012
8:46 pm
Ga defeated Florida, again, and Florida goes to a bett bowl after the Dogs took Bama to the limit?
And some idiot Gator fan says they deserve it over the Dogs? Can you spell STUPID?
Well, a bunch of idiots in a room can give UF their love all day long and it doesn’t change this:
Muschamp has not beaten Georgia as a HC.
Tampa Gator
December 2nd, 2012
8:46 pm
But Florida gets the Big East powerhouse…..Louisville. Who cares?????
Georgia vs. Nebraska………what a bore!!!!!!!
Please……..don’t wait to elminate the BCS….do it next year….please.
Ralph Kramden
December 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
Crybabies…. face it… Georgia LOST…. GET OVER IT AND FIRE RICHT… He (Richt) was even being a crybaby on the post game show…..
kral
December 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
agree TG
Stevie Ray
December 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
Truth
December 2nd, 2012
8:36 pm
Northern Illinois in BCS bowl..wouldn’t it be awesome if they won? What is the over/under re ticket sales?