The Daily Nole

Bowl Projections: Citrus Bowl Emerging as a Possible Destination for FSU

Mitch White/FSU athletics

Florida State is bowl-eligible following a 24-20 victory over N.C. State on Saturday night. The win means that FSU will likely land in a bowl game for a 35th straight year. The only question now seems to be where the Seminoles will end up.

As of right now, the answer looks to be at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Prognosticators however, are split on whether the Seminoles will play in the Russell Athletic Bowl on Dec. 28 or the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Dec. 31.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy and Jerry Palm of CBS Sports each have Florida State headed to the Russell Athletic Bowl to take on Oklahoma State. The Seminoles beat the Cowboys in the 2014 opener in Dallas and in the Gator Bowl following the 1985 season.

SB Nation’s Jason Kirk, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Bleacher Report’s Joe Pantorno each have the Seminoles heading to the Citrus Bowl. Kirk and Schlabach have FSU facing Tennessee for the first time since the Fiesta Bowl to decide the 1998 national championship. Pantorno has FSU matched up against Texas A&M.

The Seminoles and Aggies last met in East Rutherford to open the 1998 season against one another with Florida State winning 23-14. FSU also defeated Texas A&M 10-2 in the Cotton Bowl to conclude the 1991 season.

The Seminoles last played in the Russell Athletic Bowl in 2011 when it was called the Champs Sports Bowl, beating Notre Dame 18-14. FSU hasn’t played in the Citrus Bowl since 1984 when it tied Georgia, 17-17.

The lone prognosticator to have the Seminoles headed somewhere other than Orlando was Bill Bender of the Sporting News. Bender has FSU headed to El Paso to face Stanford in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Dec. 30. It would be the first meeting between FSU and Stanford and the Seminoles’ first trip to the Sun Bowl since 1966 when it fell to Wyoming, 28-20.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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