When Clemson finished off Virginia Tech last night in the ACC Championship, the Florida Gators has their bowl destination all but confirmed. They were always likely to go to the Gator Bowl — a local bowl that had expressed their desire the grab the Gators this season — but there was the outside possibility that they would get grabbed first by the Chik-fil-A Bowl in order to prevent a Clemson/Auburn matchup. Since Clemson won, though, it seems increasingly likely that the Gators will be heading down the road to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl.
While the Gators are a near lock, the group in charge of the Gator Bowl hasn’t decided upon the other team quite yet. Their other affiliation is with the Big Ten, and there are a number of possible teams still on the board: Penn State (9-3), Iowa (7-5), Ohio State (6-6), and Nebraska (9-3). They seem to be intrigued by a potential Florida-Ohio State matchup considering the recent Urban Meyer news, but given Ohio State’s record this season, the decision is still up in the air.
The Gator Bowl will make their official announcement at 6pm Sunday evening. For breaking updates on this story tonight, follow SB Nation Tampa Bay on Twitter.