A leaked tweet from Illini football coach Bret Bielema earlier today, making mention of Florida, has been proven prescient. The same can be said for all the bowl prediction posts out there. The Illinois Fighting Illini are headed to Tampa, Florida, for the Reliaquest Bowl. They’ll face Mississippi State in Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on Jan. 2. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
Yes, even in a New Year’s Day bowl game, Illinois gets the 11am slot. Brett McMurphy, from Action Network, tweeted this out, minutes ago:
Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ
. Illini will face either South Carolina or Mississippi StateAll my live updates ??https://t.co/EwvaAbZyWY
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 4, 2022
Illini football will have a media opportunity, starting in about a half hour, which will further confirm this as official. No matter what you do, DO NOT WATCH the ESPN bowl selection show. It is total crap. It’s nothing but filler- a half hour show that is like six hours long. It’s a tweet or press release made into a TV show, which is a very troubling trend in sports media today.
Just follow McMurphy instead. He’s the most reliable source who tweets these things out early.
An hour or so later, Illini football Tweeted out the confirmation, and sent out a press release. This will be the program’s second ever appearance in this specific bowl game, which was previously known as the Hall of Fame Bowl (1986–1995) and Outback Bowl (1996–2022). The Illini were crushed by Clemson in the 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl (after the 1990 season), 30-0.
This is the ninth traditional New Year’s Day bowl game for the program and the first since that ugly display in the 2008 Rose Bowl Game (following the 2007 season). It’s the first time the Illini will play in a Florida bowl game since the 1999 MicronPC.com bowl in Miami, (Ft. Lauderdale to be exact), where they whooped up on Virginia 63-17.
“We are grateful to accept an invitation to the ReliaQuest Bowl,” said Bielema. “The ReliaQuest Bowl is a first-class bowl that will give our program an opportunity to play a very good SEC opponent in Mississippi State with a national spotlight in a big-game atmosphere. Our program is excited to make the most of the experiences the ReliaQuest Bowl presents for our players, staff, and fans.
“This will be a great reward to finish the 2022 season and catapult us into 2023. I couldn’t be more excited about this program where we’re at, but more importantly, where we’re going.”
While no, the Illini didn’t win the Big Ten West, they did win eight games, and finish with an above .500 conference record. If they win this game, they’ll end up with the same number of victories as that aforementioned Rose Bowl team.
For tickets visit FightingIllini.com/
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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