Orange Bowl matches Georgia and FSU, teams that have combined for a 25-1 record
One is an undefeated conference champion that was left out of the College Football Playoff. The other is the two-time defending national champion that lost in its conference title game and as a result lost a chance for a threepeat.
The consolation prize for the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles (13-0) and No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs (12-1): Playing in the 90th annual Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
Both teams are in town, with FSU arriving on Monday and Georgia on Tuesday, and are in the midst of preparing for what, on paper, should be a quality game between two of the country’s top teams.
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
FSU (13-0) became the first undefeated conference champion from a Power 5 conference to be left out of the playoff field.
The Seminoles won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a 16-6 win against the Louisville Cardinals, but that wasn’t enough to convince the College Football Playoff committee to keep them in the top four.
FSU lost star starting quarterback Jordan Travis late in the regular season to injury and then saw backup Tate Rodemaker go down as well in the regular-season finale against Florida. (Rodemaker subsequently entered the transfer portal and opted out of the bowl game.)
The third-string quarterback, freshman Brock Glenn, will start Saturday.
Georgia, meanwhile, became the first team in the College Football Playoff era to be ranked No. 1 in the second-to-last poll of the season and not make the playoffs. The Bulldogs entered the SEC
Championship a perfect 12-0 and on a 29-game win streak before losing to Alabama, 27-24.
LOCAL PLAYERS
There are some definite South Florida vibes — at least for one team.
FSU has 10 players on its depth chart who played high school football in Miami-Dade or Broward: junior defensive back Kevin Knowles (Hollywood McArthur), freshman wide receiver Hykeem Williams (Fort Lauderdale Stranahan), redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Patrick Payton (Miami Northwestern), freshman safety Conrad Hussey (Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas), redshirt senior linebacker Tatum Bethune (Miami Central), redshirt freshman linebacker Omar Graham Jr. (Fort Lauderdale Stranahan), redshirt junior center Maurice Smith (Miami Central), redshirt junior wide receiver Kentron Poitier (Miami Palmetto), redshirt freshman defensive lineman Daniel Lyons (Homestead), and redshirt freshman Dante Anderson (Homestead).
While Georgia hasn’t released a depth chart, the Bulldogs have just one area player listed on their roster who could play in the Orange Bowl: redshirt senior wide receiver and St. Thomas Aquinas alumnus Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.
Linebacker Marvin Jones, who starred at Plantation American Heritage, recently transferred from Georgia to FSU and is eligible to play for the Seminoles next season.
Freshman Daniel Harris, a defensive back for Georgia who played at Miami Gulliver Prep, entered the transfer portal Monday but was with the team when it arrived in Miami on Tuesday.
RARE MEETING
While FSU and Georgia have played 11 games against each other, this is just the second time this millennium that the two have met. The other occasion was the 2003 Sugar Bowl that Georgia won 26-13. Prior to that, the last game between these teams was 1984.
Georgia enters Saturday with the edge in the series, holding a 6-4-1 record against FSU.
ORANGE BOWL HISTORY
Georgia is making its fourth Orange Bowl appearance and first since a 34-11 win over Michigan on Dec. 31, 2021, when the game was a College Football Playoff semifinal.
Outside of that, the Bulldogs have not been in the Orange Bowl since 1960. They won in 1942 (40-26 over TCU) and 1960 (14-0 over Missouri) but lost in 1949 (41-28 to Texas).
This will be FSU’s 11th time playing in the Orange Bowl and first since 2016, when the Seminoles beat Michigan 33-32. The Seminoles are 5-5 all time in the Orange Bowl.