How Orange Is the Orange Bowl?
On Friday, I watched the University of Tennessee Volunteers prevail against the Clemson Tigers in the 2022 Capital One Orange Bowl. The Orange Bowl is played in Florida every year, a state famous for the titular citrus. Coincidentally, Tennessee and Clemson both feature orange as one of their primary school colors, making this year’s Orange Bowl particularly orange. This got me wondering how orange the Orange Bowl has been, historically. Here’s what I learned:
- There have been 89 Orange Bowls since 1935.
- In 34 Orange Bowls, at least one team wore orange.
- In 5 Orange Bowls (including the first ever), both teams wore orange.
- Of the 29 games wherein only only one team wore orange, the orange teams hold a record of 16-13.
- The Miami Hurricanes hold the record for most appearances (10) in the Orange Bowl while wearing orange.
Reference (Source):
| Date played | Winning team | Orange? | Winning score | Losing team | Orange? | Losing score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 1935 | Bucknell | 🍊 | 26 | Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 0 |
| January 1, 1936 | Catholic | 20 | Mississippi | 19 | ||
| January 1, 1937 | #14 Duquesne | 13 | Mississippi State | 12 | ||
| January 1, 1938 | Auburn | 🍊 | 6 | Michigan State | 0 | |
| January 2, 1939 | #2 Tennessee | 🍊 | 17 | #4 Oklahoma | 0 | |
| January 1, 1940 | #16 Georgia Tech | 21 | #6 Missouri | 7 | ||
| January 1, 1941 | #9 Mississippi State | 14 | #13 Georgetown | 7 | ||
| January 1, 1942 | #14 Georgia | 40 | TCU | 26 | ||
| January 1, 1943 | #10 Alabama | 37 | #8 Boston College | 21 | ||
| January 1, 1944 | LSU | 19 | Texas A&M | 14 | ||
| January 1, 1945 | Tulsa | 26 | #13 Georgia Tech | 12 | ||
| January 1, 1946 | Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 13 | #16 Holy Cross | 6 | |
| January 1, 1947 | #10 Rice | 8 | #7 Tennessee | 🍊 | 0 | |
| January 1, 1948 | #10 Georgia Tech | 20 | #12 Kansas | 14 | ||
| January 1, 1949 | Texas | 🍊 | 41 | #8 Georgia | 28 | |
| January 2, 1950 | #15 Santa Clara | 21 | #11 Kentucky | 13 | ||
| January 1, 1951 | #10 Clemson | 🍊 | 15 | #15 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 14 |
| January 1, 1952 | #6 Georgia Tech | 17 | #9 Baylor | 14 | ||
| January 1, 1953 | #9 Alabama | 61 | #14 Syracuse | 🍊 | 6 | |
| January 1, 1954 | #4 Oklahoma | 7 | #1 Maryland | 0 | ||
| January 1, 1955 | #14 Duke | 34 | Nebraska | 7 | ||
| January 2, 1956 | #1 Oklahoma | 20 | #3 Maryland | 6 | ||
| January 1, 1957 | #20 Colorado | 27 | #19 Clemson | 🍊 | 21 | |
| January 1, 1958 | #4 Oklahoma | 48 | #16 Duke | 21 | ||
| January 1, 1959 | #5 Oklahoma | 21 | #9 Syracuse | 🍊 | 6 | |
| January 1, 1960 | #5 Georgia | 14 | #18 Missouri | 0 | ||
| January 2, 1961 | #5 Missouri | 21 | #4 Navy | 14 | ||
| January 1, 1962 | #4 LSU | 25 | #7 Colorado | 7 | ||
| January 1, 1963 | #5 Alabama | 17 | #8 Oklahoma | 0 | ||
| January 1, 1964 | #6 Nebraska | 13 | #5 Auburn | 🍊 | 7 | |
| January 1, 1965 | #5 Texas | 🍊 | 21 | #1 Alabama | 17 | |
| January 1, 1966 | #4 Alabama | 39 | #3 Nebraska | 28 | ||
| January 2, 1967 | Florida | 🍊 | 27 | #8 Georgia Tech | 12 | |
| January 1, 1968 | #3 Oklahoma | 26 | #2 Tennessee | 🍊 | 24 | |
| January 1, 1969 | #3 Penn State | 15 | #6 Kansas | 14 | ||
| January 1, 1970 | #2 Penn State | 10 | #6 Missouri | 3 | ||
| January 1, 1971 | #3 Nebraska | 17 | #5 LSU | 12 | ||
| January 1, 1972 | #1 Nebraska | 38 | #2 Alabama | 6 | ||
| January 1, 1973 | #9 Nebraska | 40 | #12 Notre Dame | 6 | ||
| January 1, 1974 | #6 Penn State | 16 | #13 LSU | 9 | ||
| January 1, 1975 | #9 Notre Dame | 13 | #2 Alabama | 11 | ||
| January 1, 1976 | #3 Oklahoma | 14 | #5 Michigan | 6 | ||
| January 1, 1977 | #11 Ohio State | 27 | #12 Colorado | 10 | ||
| January 2, 1978 | #6 Arkansas | 31 | #2 Oklahoma | 6 | ||
| January 1, 1979 | #4 Oklahoma | 31 | #6 Nebraska | 24 | ||
| January 1, 1980 | #5 Oklahoma | 24 | #4 Florida State | 7 | ||
| January 1, 1981 | #4 Oklahoma | 18 | #2 Florida State | 17 | ||
| January 1, 1982 | #1 Clemson | 🍊 | 22 | #4 Nebraska | 15 | |
| January 1, 1983 | #3 Nebraska | 21 | #13 LSU | 20 | ||
| January 2, 1984 | #5 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 31 | #1 Nebraska | 30 | |
| January 1, 1985 | #4 Washington | 28 | #2 Oklahoma | 17 | ||
| January 1, 1986 | #3 Oklahoma | 25 | #1 Penn State | 10 | ||
| January 1, 1987 | #3 Oklahoma | 42 | #9 Arkansas | 8 | ||
| January 1, 1988 | #2 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 20 | #1 Oklahoma | 14 | |
| January 2, 1989 | #2 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 23 | #6 Nebraska | 3 | |
| January 1, 1990 | #4 Notre Dame | 21 | #1 Colorado | 6 | ||
| January 1, 1991 | #1 Colorado | 10 | #5 Notre Dame | 9 | ||
| January 1, 1992 | #1 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 22 | #11 Nebraska | 0 | |
| January 1, 1993 | #3 Florida State | 27 | #11 Nebraska | 14 | ||
| January 1, 1994BC | #1 Florida State | 18 | #2 Nebraska | 16 | ||
| January 1, 1995BC | #1 Nebraska | 24 | #3 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 17 | |
| January 1, 1996 | #6 Florida State | 31 | #8 Notre Dame | 26 | ||
| December 31, 1996 | #6 Nebraska | 41 | #10 Virginia Tech | 🍊 | 21 | |
| January 2, 1998BA | #2 Nebraska | 42 | #3 Tennessee | 🍊 | 17 | |
| January 2, 1999 | #7 Florida | 🍊 | 31 | #18 Syracuse | 🍊 | 10 |
| January 1, 2000 | #8 Michigan | 35 | #5 Alabama | 34 | ||
| January 3, 2001BCS | #1 Oklahoma | 13 | #3 Florida State | 2 | ||
| January 2, 2002 | #5 Florida | 🍊 | 56 | #6 Maryland | 23 | |
| January 2, 2003 | #5 USC | 38 | #3 Iowa | 17 | ||
| January 1, 2004 | #10 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 16 | #9 Florida State | 14 | |
| January 4, 2005BCS | #1 USC | 55 | #2 Oklahoma | 19 | ||
| January 3, 2006 | #3 Penn State | 26 | #22 Florida State | 23 | ||
| January 2, 2007 | #5 Louisville | 24 | #15 Wake Forest | 13 | ||
| January 3, 2008 | #8 Kansas | 24 | #5 Virginia Tech | 🍊 | 21 | |
| January 1, 2009 | #21 Virginia Tech | 🍊 | 20 | #12 Cincinnati | 7 | |
| January 5, 2010 | #10 Iowa | 24 | #9 Georgia Tech | 14 | ||
| January 3, 2011 | #5 Stanford | 40 | #12 Virginia Tech | 🍊 | 12 | |
| January 4, 2012 | #17 West Virginia | 70 | #22 Clemson | 🍊 | 33 | |
| January 1, 2013 | #13 Florida State | 31 | #16 Northern Illinois | 10 | ||
| January 3, 2014 | #12 Clemson | 🍊 | 40 | #7 Ohio State | 35 | |
| December 31, 2014 | #10 Georgia Tech | 49 | #8 Mississippi State | 34 | ||
| December 31, 2015 | #1 Clemson | 🍊 | 37 | #4 Oklahoma | 17 | |
| December 30, 2016 | #10 Florida State | 33 | #6 Michigan | 32 | ||
| December 30, 2017 | #6 Wisconsin | 34 | #11 Miami (Florida) | 🍊 | 24 | |
| December 29, 2018 | #1 Alabama | 45 | #4 Oklahoma | 34 | ||
| December 30, 2019 | #6 Florida | 🍊 | 36 | Virginia | 🍊 | 28 |
| January 2, 2021 | #5 Texas A&M | 41 | #14 North Carolina | 27 | ||
| December 31, 2021 | #3 Georgia | 34 | #2 Michigan | 11 | ||
| December 30, 2022 | #6 Tennessee | 🍊 | 31 | #10 Clemson | 🍊 | 14 |