2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl

Selection process

In choosing the SEC team, the Chick-fil-A Bowl selection committee has the right to select the first SEC school after the Bowl Championship Series, Cotton Bowl Classic, Capital One Bowl, and Outback Bowl make their selections. The selection committee cannot select an SEC team with two fewer losses than the highest available team. The bowl earned the right to select these teams via its multimillion-dollar payout system, which guarantees a certain amount of money to the participating conferences. Prior to 2006, the Chick-fil-A Bowl (then known as the Peach Bowl) matched the No. 5 team in the SEC versus the No. 3 team in the ACC. After the bowl increased its payout to $2.8 million per squad, it then was given the second pick from the ACC, with the Gator Bowl dropping to third.

Beginning with the 2006 game, the Chick-fil-A Bowl had purchased the right to select the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team after representatives from the Bowl Championship Series made their selection. According to the official selection rules still used today, the team chosen to represent the ACC must be within one conference victory of the remaining highest-ranked conference team or be ranked more than five spaces ahead of the ACC team with the best Conference record available in the final BCS Standings.

Pre-game buildup

On Sunday, December 7, 2008, the SEC representative for the bowl, LSU, was announced. The Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives selected Georgia Tech on December 3, to represent the ACC in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Georgia Tech sold out its allotment of 17,500 tickets in less than four business days leaving the Chick-fil-a bowl with only 1,000 tickets remaining. The Chick-fil-A bowl sold all available tickets to the game, making it the 12th consecutive sellout in the combined history of the Peach and Chick-fil-A Bowls.

Television coverage

ESPN broadcast the game for the 13th straight year.

Scoring summary

References

References

1. "NCAAF Line History - Football Betting Odds".
2. (2008-12-31). "LSU vs Georgia Tech (Dec 31, 2008)". LSU Athletics Media Relations.
3. (19 December 2008). "High School Band Chosen for Chick-fil-A Bowl". WXIA.
4. "SportingNews.com - Your expert source for NCAA Football stats, scores, standings, and blogs from NCAA Football columnists".
5. (3 December 2008). "No. 15 Georgia Tech Accepts Bid to Chick-fil-A Bowl".
6. link. (2007-11-09 SECsports.com, Accessed October 29, 2007.)
7. [http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/category/virginia-tech-football/2006/11/30/georgia-va-tech-in-peach-bowl-just-about-set/ "Georgia-Va Tech In Peach Bowl Just About Set" AOL Sports]{{Dead link. (April 2019)
8. [http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/111306aaa.html "Bowl Selection Process for Atlantic Coast Conference teams"] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-10-21 Atlantic Coast Conference, theacc.com, November 13, 2006. Accessed October 29, 2007.)
9. (9 December 2008). "Sold Out: Georgia Tech sells allotment of Chick-fil-A Bowl tickets".
10. (15 December 2008). "Ga. Tech tweaks offense for bowl game vs. LSU". SportingNews.