Gator Bowl Tickets - Florida State Vs. No. 18 West Virginia

On Dec. 6, bowl officials announced that Florida State will play 18th-ranked West

Virginia in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden left West Virginia in 1976 and headed to Florida State. The 80-year-old Bowden recently announced that he would retire after the Seminoles' bowl game. FSU is 5-0-1 in the Gator Bowl, including two wins over the Mountaineers.

Although the Seminoles would have fallen to a lower bowl with its 6-6 record, Gator Bowl chairman Dan Murphy stated they immediately decided to choose Florida State once they learned of Bowden's plans to retire. Murphy said, "We got excited when we knew we could possibly pick Florida State. We couldn't think of a better way for coach Bowden to go out." The chairman continued to say he expects tickets sales "to go through the roof."

The Mountaineers (9-3) finished their season strong, with victories over Pittsburgh and Rutgers, while the Seminoles were defeated 37-10 in its season finale. Get Gator Bowl tickets and see the Mountaineers go up against the Seminoles. Bowden admitted that he saw West Virginia play two or three times this season and he was impressed with their performance.

42 of Bowden's 388 career wins came at West Virginia between 1970 and 1975. He was the Mountaineers' offensive coordinator for four seasons before he was promoted to head coach. In 1976, Bowden took over a dilapidated FSU program that won only four games in the previous three years. The coach quickly turned things around for the Seminoles.

Bowden will be facing his former school for the first time since the Seminoles defeated the Mountaineers 30-18 in the Gator Bowl after the 2004 season. Mountaineers coach Bill Stewart praised Bowden when he said, "He's one of my heroes. He's an icon to college football. It's going to be a real, real challenge because I know they're going to want to go out with a real bang for coach Bowden. I'm just a drop in the bucket compared to him. I love the man. All the accolades he gets, he deserves. I'll be right there when he's on the podium clapping louder than anybody." Stewart was an assistant coach for the Mountaineers when FSU beat them in the Gator Bowl and was a freshman lineman at WVU in Bowden's first season in 1970.

Stewart noted that if FSU wanted to win the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day, the Seminoles "will need to overlook the emotions of their retiring coach." The coach acknowledged that FSU was receiving all of the attention, and rightfully so, but stated that West Virginia cannot be overlooked. He added that it would be a big mistake on anyone's part to overlook his team.

Once the Seminoles found out they were headed to the Gator Bowl, FSU athletic director Randy Spetman said it was the best thing to happen to the Seminoles all week. He also proclaimed, "We can celebrate coach Bowden's last game with all our fans." If Bowden and the Seminoles could pull off one more victory, it would only strengthen the coach's legacy at FSU.

by: Brent Warnken

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