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UF's SEC win means Holtz will bring Gamecocks to bay area.
By JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 2000
TAMPA -- The day Lou Holtz never dreamed of has arrived.
The Woody Hayes protege will lead South Carolina against his mentor's former school, Ohio State, in the 15th anniversary Outback Bowl on New Year's Day in Raymond James Stadium.
Holtz coached at Ohio State and now coaches South Carolina, two programs that never have met.
"When I was a kid in grade school growing up in East Liverpool, Ohio; when I was attending Kent State University; and when I was an assistant coach at Ohio State under Woody Hayes, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be coaching the University of South Carolina against my home state university," Holtz said.
South Carolina (7-4) accepted a bid Saturday to represent the Southeastern Conference in the Outback against Big Ten representative Ohio State (8-3). The Gamecocks can thank Florida's 28-6 win over Auburn in the SEC title game, which set in motion a prearranged set of events.
No. 7 Florida heads to the Sugar Bowl, No. 18 Auburn heads to the Citrus to face No. 16 Michigan and South Carolina will take on No. 20 Ohio State, which accepted its invitation Nov. 20.
"South Carolina is the best story in college football this year," said Jim McVay, executive director of the Outback Bowl. "We have followed USC all season and have had great interest in them."
It is South Carolina's first bowl bid since the 1995 Carquest Bowl, and Holtz becomes the only coach in history to take six programs to a bowl.
"The whole state (of South Carolina) is just buzzing about coming down here to play," McVay said. "We've got a lot of people on the way."
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.