NewsCovering Louisiana

Actions

LSU to play UCF in Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day

Posted at 2:15 PM, Dec 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-02 15:35:12-05

The LSU football team will play the University of Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.

The announcement was made today.

UCF’s record is 12-0; the team has won 25 straight games.

Kick-off will be at noon on January 1. The game is played in the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Our media partners at The Advocate report that the bowl matchup pits an LSU team that is seeking its first major bowl victory in the College Football Playoff era with a repeatedly snubbed UCF program that once again finds itself on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

No. 11 LSU (9-3) has never played in the Fiesta Bowl, which has been played since 1971, and the Tigers have never played No. 8 UCF, the Advocate reports.

LSU went to the Citrus Bowl in each of the past two seasons. They dominated Lamar Jackson and Louisville 29-9 two seasons ago, and last year, they lost to Notre Dame 21-17, the Advocate reports.

This year’s Tigers, with three wins over top 10 opponents, had a slim chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff until a 7-OT, 76-74 loss to Texas A&M in their final game of the regular season knocked them out of consideration, the Advocate reports.

To read the Advocate’s complete analysis of the bowl announcement, click here.