2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl


The 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl was a college football bowl game between the 2008 [LSU Tigers football team|Louisiana State Tigers] and the 2008 [Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets] played in Atlanta, Georgia on December 31, 2008. With sponsorship from Chick-fil-A, it was the 41st edition of the game known throughout most of its history as the Peach Bowl. LSU was from the Southeastern Conference, and their opponent represented the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was the final game of the 2008 [NCAA Division I FBS football season|2008 football season] for each team. The game payout was a combined $6.01 million, the sixth-largest among all college football bowl games and the third-largest non-BCS bowl game payout.

Selection process

In choosing the SEC team, the Chick-fil-A Bowl selection committee has the right to select the first SEC school after the Bowl Championship Series, Cotton Bowl Classic, Capital One Bowl, and Outback Bowl make their selections. The selection committee cannot select an SEC team with two fewer losses than the highest available team. The bowl earned the right to select these teams via its multimillion-dollar payout system, which guarantees a certain amount of money to the participating conferences. Prior to 2006, the Chick-fil-A Bowl matched the No. 5 team in the SEC versus the No. 3 team in the ACC. After the bowl increased its payout to $2.8 million per squad, it then was given the second pick from the ACC, with the Gator Bowl dropping to third.
Beginning with the 2006 game, the Chick-fil-A Bowl had purchased the right to select the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team after representatives from the Bowl Championship Series made their selection. According to the official selection rules still used today, the team chosen to represent the ACC must be within one conference victory of the remaining highest-ranked conference team or be ranked more than five spaces ahead of the ACC team with the best Conference record available in the final BCS Standings.

Pre-game buildup

On Sunday, December 7, 2008, the SEC representative for the bowl, LSU, was announced. The Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives selected Georgia Tech on December 3, to represent the ACC in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Georgia Tech sold out its allotment of 17,500 tickets in less than four business days leaving the Chick-fil-a bowl with only 1,000 tickets remaining. The Chick-fil-A bowl sold all available tickets to the game, making it the 12th consecutive sellout in the combined history of the Peach and Chick-fil-A Bowls.

Television coverage

broadcast the game for the 13th straight year.

Scoring summary