2024 Citrus Bowl (December)
The 2024 Citrus Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2024, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The 79th annual Citrus Bowl featured Illinois from the Big Ten Conference and South Carolina from the Southeastern Conference. The game began at approximately 3:00 p.m. EST and aired on ABC. The Citrus Bowl was one of the 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season. Sponsored by Cheez-It, the game was officially known as the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
Teams
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured teams from the Big Ten Conference, and the Southeastern Conference. This was the first meeting between South Carolina and Illinois.
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina played to a 9–3 overall record during the regular season. After starting with a 3–3 record in their first six games, they finished with a six-game winning streak. The Gamecocks faced six ranked teams, losing to LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama while defeating Texas A&M, Missouri, and Clemson. They entered the national rankings in mid-November, and entered the bowl placed 15th in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois played to an overall regular-season record of 9–3. After opening the season with four consecutive wins, the Fighting Illini suffered three defeats in five games, then ended with three wins in a row. Illinois faced five ranked opponents, defeating Kansas, Nebraska, and Michigan while losing to Penn State and Oregon. Ranked nationally for much of the season, the Fighting Illini entered the bowl placed 20th in the final CFP rankings.