ORLANDO, Fla. – Michigan and Texas made it clear: Both teams want to play and win the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
Biff Poggi, Michigan’s interim head coach, and Steve Sarkisian, Texas’ head coach, spoke at the Rosen Plaza Hotel Orlando Tuesday morning to preview the bowl game.
“I like to compete, and I’ve never gone into anything where you don’t try to win,” Sarkisian said at the coaches joint press conference. “This isn’t some sort of exhibition or something; we’re trying to win the game. We’re going to do whatever we can do in our power to try and go win the ball game.”
The Longhorns (9-3, 6-2 SEC) are currently ranked No. 14 and narrowly missed the College Football Playoff.
“It’s the Citrus Bowl,” Poggi said, “and you’re playing against the University of Texas, who was the preseason No. 1 team in the country who, in my opinion, should have gotten one of [the playoff] bids. Our kids are looking forward to playing, and if you can’t get excited about playing Texas, then you might be in the wrong sport.”
The Wolverines (9-4, 7-2 Big 10) are ranked No. 18 and just hired Kyle Whittingham from Utah as the new head coach. Poggi continued to commend how his players have handled the month at Michigan.
“A win would be icing on the cake, but the real win for us has been the way these kids have handled adversity,” Poggi added. “We’re coming to win, but we feel like we’ve got a lot of good things [that] have happened the last three weeks at the University of Michigan, and it’s about the players.”
The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl will mark the 80th edition of the Citrus Bowl and yearly features a SEC-Big 10 showdown between non-playoff teams.
“Look at the iconic brands that have come and competed in this game year in and year out, and this year is no different,” Sarkisian added. “They’re getting Texas versus Michigan in a primetime kickoff slot right before the playoff.”
Kickoff is at 3 p.m. at Camping World Stadium on New Year’s Eve.