Georgia gets Liberty Bowl matchup with TCU

Georgia and TCU are two teams that have enjoyed plenty of success in recent years.

Just four years ago in 2012, the Bulldogs were playing for the SEC championship and a shot to play for a national title. Two years ago, TCU shared the Big 12 championship with Baylor but was left out of the first-ever College Football Playoff.

With the regular season wrapped up, these two teams will meet in the Liberty Bowl. Georgia (7-5) ended its regular season with a stunning 28-27 loss to Georgia Tech and TCU (6-6) has lost four of its past six games. Neither team has been accustomed to seasons quite like this in recent memory, which should only fuel each team’s fire to finish strong in the bowl game.

“It used to be that 6-6 was exciting, but we believe in winning championships, just like the University of Georgia does,” TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. “That’s what (Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s) trying to do. That’s why the University of Georgia brought him back. He has a really good staff.”

The Liberty Bowl is scheduled to take place at noon on Dec. 30 in Memphis, Tennessee.

This marks Georgia’s first trip to the Liberty Bowl since Dec. 10, 2010, when it lost 10-6 to Central Florida. It will be the fourth time Georgia has played this game, with the Bulldogs holding a 1-2 record.

“The opportunity to play an outstanding team in TCU is an exciting challenge for our coaches and players,” Smart said. “This will be my first trip to the game as a player or coach, but the Liberty Bowl has a long history of providing a quality bowl experience that I’m sure our players and fans will enjoy. We will face a quality Big 12 opponent in TCU and I’m sure Coach Patterson will have them at their best on Dec. 30. We are anxious to begin practice and preparations for the trip to Memphis.”

Georgia is one of 12 SEC teams to earn a bowl bid this year. Alabama, the only undefeated team in a Power 5 conference at 13-0, is the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and will face Washington in the Peach Bowl.

Auburn (Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma), LSU (Citrus Bowl vs. Louisville), Florida (Outback Bowl vs. Iowa), Texas A&M (Texas Bowl vs. Kansas State), Arkansas (Belk Bowl vs. Virginia Tech), Tennessee (Music City Bowl vs. Nebraska), Kentucky (TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Georgia Tech), Vanderbilt (Independence Bowl vs. N.C. State), South Carolina (Birmingham Bowl vs. South Florida) and Mississippi State (St. Petersburg Bowl vs. Miami of Ohio) are the other SEC teams to earn bowl bids.

Georgia holds a 29-19-3 all-time record in bowl games. Its 52 appearances rank fourth all-time and its 29 wins are third nationally.

The Bulldogs have an all-time 3-0 series lead over TCU, with those years being 1942, 1980 and 1988. Coincidentally enough, that 1942 game was Georgia’s first-ever postseason game, and win, in the Orange Bowl, which followed the 1941 season.

With Georgia and TCU having rarely played, Patterson said he doesn’t know a whole lot about the Bulldogs.

“I don’t know a lot about them because I haven’t watched a lot of film,” Patterson said. “I’ve known Kirby from a lot of different places. I’ve watched him obviously as a defensive guy from afar. He was probably a little bit like us in his first year, going through some growing pains, which is tough.”

Patterson’s first season mirrored Smart’s, considering TCU was coming off of a 10-2 season in 2000 before the Horned Frogs’ previous head coach, Dennis Franchione, bolted for Alabama. In his first full season as TCU’s head coach in 2001, Patterson posted a 6-6 record before going 10-2 and 11-2 the next two years.

Georgia hasn’t played a Big 12 opponent since the 2010 regular season when it faced Colorado, which has since joined the Pac-12. The last time Georgia played a Big 12 team in a bowl game was in a 44-20 win in the Independence Bowl against Texas A&M, which has since joined the SEC.

“Rarely do we face an opponent from the Big 12, and we look forward to this matchup,” Georgia athletics director Greg McGarity said. “(Liberty Bowl executive director) Steve (Ehrhart), his staff and volunteers will take great care of our team, administrative staff and Bulldog fans.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Georgia gets Liberty Bowl matchup with TCU."