The Outback Bowl has made it official, announcing that Penn State will face Florida in the Outback Bowl, to be played on January 1, 2011 in Tampa, FL. Raymond James Stadium is 130 miles from Gainesville, FL, where the Gators call home, while State College, PA is 1100 miles away. Naturally, there will be a very large Gator contingent present. Luckily for Penn State, though, Nittany Lions fans travel especially well, possibly negating any home-field advantage the Gators may have.
Both teams finished the regular season with identical 7-5 overall and 4-4 in-conference records. The teams have only faced each other twice, with the Gators winning both. In 1962, Florida won the appropriately named Gator Bowl 17-7, and in 1998, the Gators won the Florida Citrus Bowl 21-6.
SBN Pittsburgh will have plenty of news and analysis on this game, but fans can also check out Black Shoe Diaries for Penn State news and Alligator Army for Florida news.