It's South Carolina vs Ohio State

Tampa, FL -- It's official. The University of South Carolina Gamecocks will square-off against No. 19 Ohio State in the Outback Bowl's 15th anniversary game in Raymond James Stadium on New Year's Day. The game will be telecast on ESPN TV.

The news comes following the Florida Gators 28-6 win over Auburn in today's SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Outback Bowl officials had extended provisional bids earlier in the week to Florida, if available, and to South Carolina if the Gators won today.

It will be the first meeting in history between the Buckeyes and Gamecocks who boast the top scoring defenses in the Big Ten and SEC respectively. Both teams also have plenty of offensive weapons as well including Ohio State's Ken-Yon Rambo who caught 51 passes for 729 yards, and RB Derek Watson of the Gamecocks who rushed for 1,066 yards and leads the SEC in All Purpose Yards. USC Coach Lou Holtz was named National Coach of the Year by The Football News and SEC Coach of the Year by The Sporting News.

The 2001 Outback Bowl leads-off the New Year's Day bowl lineup once again with an 11 A.M. (ET) kickoff. A limited number of tickets to the Outback Bowl are still available at Ticketmaster outlets throughout Florida, via phone at (813) 287-8844 and Online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available through the South Carolina Ticket Office at 800-4SC-FANS and the Ohio State Ticket Office at 800-GO-BUCKS.