I always think playing a team your school has never faced before is interesting, so when South Carolina got the exact opposite of that this year (not complaining, we're just lucky to be there!) I decided to look at all the bowl matchups by the number of previous meetings, and almost half of them will be first time games -

DUKE'S MAYO BOWL - South Carolina vs. North Carolina, UNC leads 35-19-4 (58)

PINSTRIPE BOWL - Maryland vs. Virginia Tech, MD leads 16-15 (31)

NEW MEXICO BOWL - Fresno State vs. UTEP, FSU leads 8-3-1 (12)

PEACH BOWL - Michigan State vs. Pitt, MI State leads 6-0-1 (7)
LIBERTY BOWL - Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech, MSU leads 4-2-1 (7)
ALAMO BOWL - Oregon vs. Oklahoma, OK leads 6-1 (7)

BIRMINGHAM BOWL - Auburn vs. Houston, AU leads 5-1 (6)

COTTON BOWL - Alabama vs. Cincinnati, AL leads 5-0 (5)
BOCA RATON BOWL - Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State, ASU leads 4-1 (5)
ARIZONA BOWL - Boise State vs. Central Michigan, CMU leads 3-2 (5)

ARMED FORCES BOWL - Missouri vs. Army, Mizzou leads 3-1 (4)
LAS VEGAS BOWL - Arizona State vs. Wisconsin, ASU leads 3-1 (4)

LA BOWL - Oregon State vs. Utah State, OSU leads 3-0 (3)

ORANGE BOWL - Georgia vs. Michigan, series tied 1-1 (2)
GASPARILLA BOWL - Florida vs. UCF, Florida leads 2-0 (2)
CAMELIA BOWL - Ball State vs. Georgia State, series tied 1-1 (2)
HOLIDAY BOWL - UCLA vs. NC State, UCLA leads 2-0 (2)

ROSE BOWL - Ohio State vs. Utah, OSU leads 1-0 (1)
SUGAR BOWL - Ole Miss vs. Baylor, BU leads 1-0 (1)
LENDING TREE BOWL - Liberty vs. Eastern Michigan, Liberty leads 1-0 (1)
MUSIC CITY BOWL - Purdue vs. Tennessee, PU leads 1-0 (1)
GATOR BOWL - Texas A&M vs. Wake Forest, WF leads 1-0 (1)
SUN BOWL - Miami vs. Washington State, WSU leads 1-0 (1)
TEXAS BOWL - Kansas State vs. LSU, LSU leads 1-0 (1)

FIESTA BOWL - Oklahoma State vs. Notre Dame, first meeting
BAHAMAS BOWL - Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo, first meeting
CURE BOWL - Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina, first meeting
INDEPENDENCE BOWL - BYU vs. UAB, first meeting
NEW ORLEANS BOWL - Louisiana vs. Marshall, first meeting
MYRTLE BEACH BOWL - Old Dominion vs. Tulsa, first meeting
POTATO BOWL - Wyoming vs. Kent State, first meeting
FRISCO BOWL - UTSA vs. San Diego State, first meeting
FRISCO CLASSIC - Miami(OH) vs. North Texas, first meeting
HAWAI'I BOWL - Hawai'i vs. Memphis, first meeting
QUICK LANE BOWL - Western Michigan vs. Nevada, first meeting
MILITARY BOWL - Boston College vs. East Carolina, first meeting
FIRST RESPONDER BOWL - Air Force vs. Louisville, first meeting
GUARANTEED RATE BOWL - West Virginia vs. Minnesota, first meeting
FENWAY BOWL - Virginia vs. SMU, first meeting
CHEEZIT BOWL - Iowa State vs. Clemson, first meeting
OUTBACK BOWL - Arkansas vs. Penn State, first meeting
CITRUS BOWL - Kentucky vs. Iowa, first meeting

I think the one that is most amazing to me is that Georgia and Michigan only have met 2x before.

Most of the others seem pretty normal.

(12-05-2021 10:17 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think the one that is most amazing to me is that Georgia and Michigan only have met 2x before.

Most of the others seem pretty normal.

That shocked me too, the other one that surprised me a little is that Arkansas and Penn State have never met up before.

(12-05-2021 10:37 PM)Gamenole Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 10:17 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think the one that is most amazing to me is that Georgia and Michigan only have met 2x before.

Most of the others seem pretty normal.

That shocked me too, the other one that surprised me a little is that Arkansas and Penn State have never met up before.

Arkansas has played very few B1G schools. Michigan canceled a series with us a couple of years ago.

(12-05-2021 10:15 PM)Gamenole Wrote:  I always think playing a team your school has never faced before is interesting, so when South Carolina got the exact opposite of that this year (not complaining, we're just lucky to be there!) I decided to look at all the bowl matchups by the number of previous meetings, and almost half of them will be first time games -

DUKE'S MAYO BOWL - South Carolina vs. North Carolina, UNC leads 35-19-4 (58)

PINSTRIPE BOWL - Maryland vs. Virginia Tech, MD leads 16-15 (31)

NEW MEXICO BOWL - Fresno State vs. UTEP, FSU leads 8-3-1 (12)

I would have been surprised that 25 bowls had first time or second time meetings.

I think if you told most people that UTEP-Fresno State was the third most common, the reaction would be: "UTEP is in a bowl game?"

How many of the SC-NC games were before SC left the ACC?

(12-06-2021 04:10 AM)jimrtex Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 10:15 PM)Gamenole Wrote:  I always think playing a team your school has never faced before is interesting, so when South Carolina got the exact opposite of that this year (not complaining, we're just lucky to be there!) I decided to look at all the bowl matchups by the number of previous meetings, and almost half of them will be first time games -

I would have been surprised that 25 bowls had first time or second time meetings.

This was actually very surprising to me — especially that over 40% are first-time meetings. That’s an attraction of the bowl system I hadn’t previously appreciated.

(12-06-2021 04:10 AM)jimrtex Wrote:  How many of the SC-NC games were before SC left the ACC?

SC & NC played 16 times while South Carolina was in the ACC from 1953-1970, every year except 1965-66.

I was actually shocked NCSU has played UCLA before.

Frankly, I was surprised to see Kentucky-Iowa on the first time meeting list. The two states are relatively close (there's only one state in between them) and they've both been playing football for a long time