This day in sports history

BY COLIN “BIG C” MACGUIRE

The Greenville Standard

 

Today, I will discuss the bowl game matchups 45 years ago. The bowls were the big deal.

Texas was ranked No. 1. They were 11-0 with Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell and they faced No. 5 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.

No. 2 Oklahoma played No. 6 Arkansas in the Orange Bowl. No. 3 Alabama squared off against No. 8 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. No. 4 four Michigan took on No. 13 Washington in the Rose Bowl.

Those four bowls had conference tie-in’s. The Cotton was the Southwest Conference; the Orange was the Big Eight Conference; the Sugar was the Southeastern Conference; the Rose was the Big Ten Conference and PAC 8 Conference, which is now the PAC 12 Conference.

Next week, I will give the results of those games from Jan. 2, 1978.