TAMPA, Fla. — College football is all about pageantry.
The bands from both Wisconsin and LSU turned up the volume to get the day started right.
Fans were recovering from their New Year’s Eve celebrations, but it was still time to tailgate to start 2024 before the ReliaQuest Bowl.
“We are all kinda old, and we were all out late last night. It was New Year’s Eve, but we are doing our best. Right? Right,” said Wisconsin fan Cindy Nate.
A crew of Badger transplants living in Florida enjoyed the taste of home.
“We brought our personal cheese curds all the way in from Wisconsin directly. Squeaky cheese is what they call it,” said Gary Schneider.
“I grew up 30 miles south of Green Bay, and you were born into Wisconsin sports when you live up there. It’s just really fun, isn’t it,” said Nate.
Other teams from the Big Ten and SEC will be battling it out in the College Football Playoff for the national championship, but Wisconsin and LSU were just hoping to end the season with one more win.
LSU had Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels, but he opted out of the game to protect his draft status.
Many fans bought their bowl tickets thinking they would see Daniels play before he opted out.
“We would be so excited to see him, but I understand why he opted out. I would do it if I was him too,” said LSU fan Wyatt Bertrand.
Attendance-wise, there were just about 31,000 fans at the game. That’s the smallest crowd for this bowl ever, not counting the COVID year.
Many of these fans have been watching these teams for years.
But for Elaina, it’s her first live football game.
“She gets to watch LSU win for the first time today. Oh yeah,” said Madison Claudel.
Attendance has taken a major dip in the last 20 years, even more so since Outback ended its sponsorship with the game two years ago.
In the early 2000s, the Outback Bowl would draw more than 60,000 fans, but now it's at about half that.
"I think it's because a lot of the good players sit out because of the draft and try to get not injured and stuff, and I think a lot of people don't want to come out and watch the B-team player. It just doesn't make sense to come down here and spend a lot of money if you are going to watch the backups play,” said LSU fan Tucker Webb.
