Hawkeyes And Gamecocks to Square-off in Outback Bowl

Outback Bowl officials today extended invitations to the University of Iowa and the University of South Carolina to meet in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day in Tampa, Florida. The No. 26 Hawkeyes will face the Gamecocks for the first time in history.

Iowa won five of their final six games including a win over then No. 3 and undefeated Penn State. The Hawkeyes feature RB Shonn Greene, the Big Ten Most Valuable Player, a Doak Walker Award finalist and the nations second leading rusher. The Gamecocks feature the 11th ranked defense in the nation including the third best against the pass. This will be both teams third appearance in the Outback Bowl game. Iowa is 1-1 in the bowl while South Carolina is 2-0.

“We are thrilled to have these two outstanding representatives from the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference in our game,” stated Jim McVay, Outback Bowl President /CEO. “Both of these teams feature some tremendous players and two of the best coaches in college football. We are very excited about this match-up.”

“We couldn’t be more pleased,” added Outback Bowl Team Selection Chairman Dale Dignum. “We look forward to hosting the teams and their fans for a fantastic week of fun, and what we feel will be a terrific football game.”

The Outback Bowl is celebrating its 23rd year and will kickoff at 11 A.M. (ET) on January 1st in Raymond James Stadium. The game is telecast internationally on ESPN TV. Tickets to the Outback Bowl are $65 each and are available at Ticketmaster outlets throughout Florida, via phone at (800) 745-3000 and online at www.Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available through the Iowa and South Carolina ticket offices. Information on the Outback Bowl game, bowl events, area hotels and the Tampa, St Petersburg, Clearwater area can be found on the bowl's web site at www.outbackbowl.com.

See Iowa Notes .

See South Carolina Notes .