2016 Citrus Bowl, LSU vs. Louisville: Date, time, location, and everything to know

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It’s gone by many names, but the Citrus Bowl has become one of college football’s more prestigious bowl games outside the New Year’s Six.

The game debuted as the Tangerine Bowl in 1946, and it kept that name until 1982. It became the Citrus Bowl in 1983, then the Capital One Bowl from 2002 to 2013 and then, again, the Citrus Bowl for the last two years.

Its sponsor is Buffalo Wild Wings, and the game pits the SEC’s No. 2 finisher (or, at least, its top non-New Year’s Six team) against someone from the Big Ten or the ACC. The Citrus Bowl can take a Big Ten team that finished between second and fourth in that league, while it can take whoever’s available out of the ACC. Notre Dame also has contractual eligibility for the Citrus Bowl.

It’s a nice, warm-weathered contest that’s played in a pretty big venue. It doesn’t draw the best teams, but it draws two pretty good ones, and you could do infinitely worse if you’re looking for a New Year’s Eve afternoon watch.

Date and time: Dec. 31, 2016, 11 a.m. ET

TV channel: ABC

Location: Orlando, Fla.

Stadium: Camping World Stadium

Last year’s score: Michigan 41, Florida 7

Last year’s attendance: 63,113

Last year’s TV rating: 5.4 overnight

Last year’s payout for each school: $4.25 million

Teams with the most all-time appearances: Georgia, 6

Teams with the most all-time wins: Michigan and Georgia, 4

LSU (7-4, 5-3 in SEC)

One of the biggest stories surrounding LSU, at least in the beginning of the season, was the firing of head coach Les Miles, who was let go after an 18-13 loss on the road at Auburn. Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron took over and led the Tigers to a 3-0 mark heading into the showdown against No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 5. The Tide won 10-0, but that didn’t mean Orgeron couldn’t get the full-time job.

Things became turbulent in that regard after Florida went into Baton Rouge and upset the Tigers 16-10. But LSU won its last regular season game, and Orgeron got the permanent job after all. He went 5-2 in Miles’ stead as an interim.

Miles was criticized, both last season and at the start of 2016, for the lack of change offensively. After his departure, new offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger did a very good job with quarterback Danny Etling and running back Leonard Fournette during that 3-0 stretch before Alabama. But Fournette’s nagging ankle injury hindered that progress following the loss to Alabama.

Louisville (9-3, 7-1 in ACC)

Louisville entered the 2016 season expected to be an ACC Atlantic contender, but perhaps what no one expected was how exceedingly dominant the Cardinals’ offense would be. Louisville opened the season 4-0, including a 63-20 rout of then-No. 2 Florida State before entering a showdown against Clemson. The Cardinals lost to the Tigers, but it was hard-fought -- UL’s remaining wins kept them in the Playoff conversation. That is, until Houston drubbed Louisville, 36-10, during Week 12, thus ruining the Cardinals’ hopes of sneaking into a Playoff semifinal.

The offense is led by Heisman frontrunner Lamar Jackson, who’s accounted for over 3,100 yards passing and 1,600 yards rushing, and 21 touchdowns. Jackson basically ran away with the Heisman Trophy before the losses Houston and then Kentucky. We’ll see how far Jackson falls back to the pack.

Losing two games in a row obviously isn’t how Cardinal fans were hoping things would end this season, but there shouldn’t be any hanging of heads. Both Clemson and Houston are very good teams, and the good news is Jackson is just a sophomore, meaning he has at least one year left to torch opposing defenses. The future is bright for Bobby Petrino’s team moving forward.