Indiana's first bowl bid since 2016 will be against Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl held in Jacksonville, Florida. The Hoosiers have never played in the Gator Bowl, and they haven't recorded a victory in a bowl game since 1991.
After a historic eight-win season for the Hoosiers, their bowl game destination has finally been announced. For the first time since the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl, Indiana head coach Tom Allen has his squad in the postseason. They'll represent the Big Ten in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Tennessee in Jacksonville, Florida on Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. Fred Glass announced in a press conference at Memorial Stadium.
The Gator Bowl usually pits an SEC team with one from the Big Ten. In the past two years, a Big Ten team wasn't a part of the bowl game unlike the previous six. In that span of six consecutive years that saw a Big Ten team, only Nebraska and Northwestern were named victors.
Nebraska defeated No. 22 Georgia 24-19 on Jan. 1, 2014 while Northwestern routed Mississippi State 34-20 the year prior. Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Penn State have all lost in recent years, but the Hoosiers will look to turn the tide this season against the Volunteers.
Indiana has never played in this bowl game in its history. The team's last bowl game appearance before Allen's tenure was the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl. In that year, the Hoosiers earned the right to a bowl game after a 54-36 victory over Purdue that brought their record to 6-6 in the regular season. However, in a 44-41 loss to Duke in overtime. The Blue Devils were 7-5 before defeating the Hoosiers.
A win for Indiana would also be its first since 1991 when the team was coached by Bill Mallory. The Hoosiers defeated Baylor in a 24-0 shutout in the Copper Bowl after a 6-4-1 regular season where they placed fourth in the Big Ten standings.
This year's Gator Bowl will mark the 12th bowl game in program history. Thus far, Indiana has won just three bowl games, and two have been under the coaching of Mallory. His first bowl victory came in 1988 in a 34-10 win over South Carolina. The game was the second of six bowl appearances during his tenure.
Since then, Allen will be the only head coach for Indiana to lead his team to more than one bowl berth.
Last year's Gator Bowl featured a 52-13 win for then-No. 21 Texas A&M over NC State.
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