South Carolina trying to win second straight bowl game today against Michigan

TAMPA, Fla. – The last time South Carolina won back-to-back bowl games was after the 2000 and 2001 seasons, with victories over Ohio State in the Outback Bowl both times. Since then, the Gamecocks have wins in the 2006 Liberty Bowl and last season’s Capital One Bowl, and losses in the Independence, Outback, PapaJohns.com and Chick-fil-A Bowls.

Today against Michigan in the Outback Bowl, which kicks off at 1 p.m., they can win consecutive bowl games for the second time in school history. They also won their bowl game before the 2000 Outback – the 1994 Carquest. Before that, they were 0-8 in bowl games. They are 5-12 all time in bowl games.

The Gamecocks are 10-2 this season and face an 8-4 Michigan team that has more wins in its history than any other program in college football. Neither team has a bad loss this season. The combined record of the six teams that have beaten them is 67-7.

A wildcard in today’s game is the role of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. He has been nursing a sore throwing elbow that resulted in him not attempting a pass in the final four games. He did not play in the first two of those games. But while Devin Gardner will start today, Robinson will play quarterback, according to coach Brady Hoke.