2008 Orange Bowl
The 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by three points, but in a game dominated by defensive and special teams play, Kansas defeated Virginia Tech 24–21. The game was part of the 2007–2008 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. This 74th edition of the Orange Bowl was televised in the United States on FOX and was watched by more than eight million viewers.
2008 Florida Gators football team
Florida's SEC home opener had the Gators face off against the Ole Miss Rebels. This is the first time the Gators had played the Rebels at home since their loss in 2003 against the Eli Manning-led Rebels squad. This game also concluded the home-and-home series with the SEC West opponent after the Gators won the first game in the H-H series against the Rebels last season with a score of 30-24 in which Tim Tebow set a school-record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 166 yards on 27 carries. This was Urban Meyer's second time coaching against a Houston Nutt coached team with the first time being the Arkansas Razorbacks in the 2006 SEC Championship Game where the Gators defeated the Hogs 38-28 to go on and win the 2007 BCS National Championship. Entering this game, Urban Meyer was 21-1 at home in Gainesville and Houston Nutt was 0-3 against the Gators. Ole Miss's starting quarterback Jevan Snead, a transfer from the University of Texas, had committed to play for the Gators prior to the 2006 season before decommitting.