Michigan beat Alabama in overtime, 35-34. The game was part of the 1999-2000 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season, and it was both teams' last game of the season. It is also considered to be the final game played at Legion Field.
The loss ended up being Alabama's downfall. They had been ranked number 1 all year long and were looking forward to playing for the national championship. However, due to losing this game, they fell to number 2 behind Florida State in the BCS rankings. This means that Michigan was given a spot in the 2000 National Football League (NFL) Draft instead of Alabama. The Crimson Tide went on to lose the Sugar Bowl to Arkansas 24-14.
This game matched two top 10 teams that finished the season with 9-3 records. The winner would advance to the next round of the BCS championship game which was scheduled to take place in January 2000.
The 1999 Orange Bowl was the culmination of the highest-scoring bowl game in history up to that point. It was also the final college game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The stadium was demolished the following year and its site is now occupied by Regions Park.
Before the start of the game, a moment of silence was held to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In the 2000 Orange Bowl, The 2000 FedEx Orange Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played on January 1, 2000, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, between the Michigan Wolverines and the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was the second consecutive year that both teams were ranked number one at the end of the season. This was the first Orange Bowl to be broadcast by ESPN.
Michigan entered the game with a 10-1 record while Alabama was 11-1. The victory gave head coach Lloyd Carr his third career win against an opposing coach who had been with their respective programs when he started for Ohio State (Chuck Noll) or Maryland (Gary Moeller). It also ended the Crimson Tide's bid for a national championship.
The two teams were selected by the Orange Bowl Committee to represent the West and East divisions of the National Football Conference (NFL). They were chosen over Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, respectively. The game was sponsored by the Orange Bowl Company and was known as the FedEx Orange Bowl. The attendance of 68,818 set a new stadium record.
This was the first meeting between these two schools. Alabama dominated most of the series until Michigan began to struggle near the end of the 1990s. Since then Michigan has won three games in Tuscaloosa all by one point or less.
The 2000 FedEx Orange Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played on January 1, 2000, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines. This was the first Orange Bowl to be broadcast live by ESPN.
The 2000 Orange Bowl was the final game for both coaches: Michigan's Bo Schembechler retired after the season and Alabama's Mike DuBose died shortly before the game of heart disease at age 59.
It was also the last game for many players who went on to successful coaching careers: Alabama's Lee County High School football coach Doug Williams led Michigan to its first win over Alabama since 1993; Michigan's Tommy Tuberville and Alabama's Gary Jones each had three victories over Schembechler's teams; and several other coaches were starting their first seasons behind closed doors: Jim McElwain was the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide while Terry Bowden was the head coach for the UMASS Minutemen.
This was also the last game for many others: The Orange Bowl award is named after Thomas J. O'Brien, who established the foundation for today's industry-leading cable television network, ESPN. O'Brien served as the executive director of the American Football Association from 1949 to 1951 and as the president of the conference from 1952 to 1955.
With the victory in that game, Ohio State's total bowl record now stands at 22 wins and 24 defeats. Meyer also guided the Buckeyes to the fourth seed in the college football playoffs in 2016-17. In the game, the Buckeyes were defeated 31-0 by Clemson.
Hayes' Buckeyes and Schembechler's Wolverines clashed at the pinnacle of their powers ten times between 1969 and 1978. The majority of these games determined which team would represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. Between 1969 and 1977, the two teams shared or won every Big Ten championship.
Ohio State Buckeyes Football Flashback: 1999 Sugar Bowl—Buckeyes Beat Texas A&M, 24-14--Ohio State Buckeyes football player Ryan Rossum had a career day with seven tackles, three for a loss, and two sacks in Ohio State's 24-14 win over Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. The victory ended the 1999 season for both teams. With the win, Ohio State finished its season 12-1 and ranked No. 2 behind Michigan. Texas A&M concluded its season 11-2-1.
In addition to his seven tackles, Rossum had three sacks, which is an OSU record for a single game. He was named the game's most valuable player. Defensive back Antwan Riggins also had three sacks for Ohio State, which matches a school record. Riggins became the first player in OSU history to reach the 3-sack mark twice in the same season when he did it in 1999 and 2000. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the 2001 NFL Draft. Linebacker Gary Brackett also had three sacks for Ohio State, which matched a school record set by Jim Parker in 1934. Bracker was named the game's defensive MVP. He was selected in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.
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