Cornhuskers Excited About Return Appearance In Orlando

Few teams qualify for “storied program” status. There are even fewer coaches that can truly be classified as legends. In the case of Tom Osborne and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, both monikers fit snuggly.

When the former head coach and congressman and current Athletic Director Osborne pays you a compliment, it means something. That’s exactly what he did on Sunday night after the Blackshirts were announced as this year’s Big Ten participant in the Capital One Bowl.

“We were treated very well last year in Orlando,” Osborne said. “I think it’s one of the finest bowls we’ve been to. We’re very proud and very pleased .”

This is Nebraska’s second trip to the City Beautiful in as many years, having lost to South Carolina 30-13 in last year’s Capital One Bowl. The B1G runners-up will square off against SEC runners-up Georgia in what should be one of the marquee match-ups of the 2012-13 bowl season.

“We’re excited to be coming back to Orlando. is a first-class bowl game,” said Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini during last night’s media teleconference. “Georgia is a program we have a tremendous amount of respect for. They’re a heck of a football team, so it’ll be a great challenge for our program.”

Nebraska was presented with multiple bowl options for this year’s postseason, but ultimately chose to make the return trip to Central Florida.

“Like Coach Osborne said, this is a first-class bowl game,” said Pelini. “To play the highest ranked opponent possible, the tremendous opportunity…for all the reasons, it was pretty obvious that we needed to and Coach Osborne agreed.”