Michigan Matched Up Against Florida in Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 29
12/2/2018 3:25:00 PM | Football
• Bowl Ticket Information | Buy Tickets (on sale Monday, Dec. 3, at 8:30 a.m. EST)
ATLANTA, Ga. -- The seventh-ranked University of Michigan football team will be heading to Atlanta, Georgia, during the holiday season to square off against the 10th-ranked University of Florida in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Game on Saturday, Dec. 29.
The game pitting the Wolverines (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten) against the Gators (9-3, 5-3 SEC) will kick off at noon EST from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The bowl game match-up will be televised nationally by ESPN.
The Wolverines will be making their first appearance in the Peach Bowl. The Big Ten Conference has played in the Peach Bowl on seven previous occasions, compiling a 2-5 record, with all five setbacks coming by seven points or less. It will be the first time that a Big Ten team will play in the Peach Bowl since 1990, when Indiana suffered a 27-24 loss to Auburn. The only conference schools with appearances in the Peach Bowl are Illinois (1985), Indiana (1987, 1990), Iowa (1982, 1988) and Purdue (1978, 1984).
"We are honored to represent the Big Ten Conference in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl," said Jim Harbaugh, the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Head Football Coach. "Florida is a great football team, and we look forward to the opportunity to compete against them. We are excited to have our student-athletes and fans experience the Peach Bowl during the holiday season."
The Florida Gators, led by first-year head coach Dan Mullen, finished tied for second in the SEC Eastern Division. The Gators finished No. 10 in the College Football Playoff ranking. Florida's only setbacks on the year came against Kentucky, Georgia and Missouri. UF is led by RB Lamical Perine, RB Jordan Scarlett, QB Feleipe Franks, WR Van Jefferson and WR Freddie Swain on offense and LB Vosean Joseph, LB David Reese, DL Jachai Polite and DL Jabari Zuniga on defense. The Wolverines have a 4-0 record against the Gators, winning three bowl games and one regular-season match-up.
U-M heads into the Peach Bowl looking to capture at least 11 wins for the 10th time in the 139-year history of the program. After dropping the season opener at Notre Dame, Michigan won 10 straight games before falling in "The Game" to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. The 10-2 Wolverines boast one of the nation's most balanced offenses, averaging 214.3 rushing yards per game and 212.9 passing yards per game, and the nation's No. 1-ranked defensive unit. Michigan had eight players earn first-team All-Big Ten honors, and junior linebacker Devin Bush is a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy and Butkus Award. The Wolverines have been ranked in the top 20 of the national polls all season and finished seventh in the College Football Playoff ranking.
Following is background on Michigan's bowl game history:
- U-M will be making its 47th all-time bowl appearance, tied for the 11th highest total all-time among FBS schools.
- The Peach Bowl will be the 12th different bowl game for Michigan.
- Michigan's 21 bowl wins represent the 17th highest total among FBS schools.
- This will be the 15th time that Michigan faces a Southeastern Conference school in a bowl game. U-M holds an 8-6 mark against the SEC in bowls.
- Aside from the 1984 Sugar Bowl game (9-7 loss to Auburn), the Wolverines' other 13 bowl games against an SEC opponent were played in the state of Florida: Citrus/Capital One (4-1), Gator (1-1), Hall of Fame/Outback (2-3) and Orange (1-0).
- The Wolverines have a 25-9-1 all-time record against the SEC. The most recent bowl match-up came in the 2018 Outback Bowl, a 26-19 loss to South Carolina on New Year's Day.
Peach Bowl Ticket Information
Tickets to the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will be available for purchase by the general public on a first-come, first-served basis on Monday (Dec. 3) at 8:30 a.m. EST. Tickets for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl are $160. Football season ticket holders and donors to Michigan Athletics who submitted their pre-order by the November 28 deadline will have seat locations assigned according to priority point total. To order bowl tickets, please visit MGoBlue.com/tickets or call the Michigan Athletic Ticket Office at 866-296-MTIX or 734-764-0247. Phone orders or in-person orders will be taken weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.
Official Peach Bowl Tour Information
The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is once again hosting the only official University of Michigan Peach Bowl Tour. There are several tour packages available. Information and registration for all packages is available at umalumni.com/bowltour. Please call (877) 513-2320 with questions or to make a reservation over the phone.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Game Facts
Date: Saturday, December 29, 2018
Time: Noon EST
Television: ESPN
Site: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.
Capacity: 71,000
Surface: FieldTurf
Website: chick-fil-apeachbowl.com
