The 81st Citrus Bowl, featuring top teams from the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences, will be held on Saturday, January 2 at noon ET, with a national broadcast on ABC.
This season's contest — the first Saturday Citrus Bowl since 2022 — marks 35 years since the bowl adopted its current SEC vs. Big Ten format. The game will be played at Camping World Stadium, which will host the event at a reduced capacity as the venue undergoes a $400 million renovation set for completion in 2027.
Last year, in the milestone 80th edition of the game, No. 14 Texas defeated No. 18 Michigan 41-27. The Longhorns were led by QB Arch Manning, who earned MVP honors after racking up 376 yards of offense (221 passing, 155 rushing) and four total TDs to lead Texas to victory in the program's first-ever Orlando bowl appearance.
The seventh-oldest collegiate bowl game in the country, the Citrus Bowl began as the Tangerine Bowl in 1947. The initial game sponsors, members of Elks Lodge #1079 of Orlando, each put up $100 to fund initial expenses.
Since 1993 the bowl has hosted top teams from the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences.
In the new “College Football Playoff” era of college football’s postseason, the Citrus Bowl will continue to host the top Big Ten and SEC teams from outside the CFP series of bowls (including Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton and Peach).
Date and time are subject to change.
