Dec. 4, 2005

Independence Bowl Ticket Information

Independence Bowl officials officially announced the matchup for the 30th anniversary Independence Bowl, which will be played on Friday, Dec. 30 at Independence Stadium. The Missouri Tigers will represent the Big 12 Conference and face the South Carolina Gamecocks out of the Southeastern Conference.

The Tigers (6-5) and Gamecocks (7-4) will meet at 2:30 p.m. CT in a game, which will be nationally televised on ESPN. This year’s Independence Bowl is one of just three bowl games on Dec. 30 and is the lone game in its time slot. Missouri is making its second trip to the Independence Bowl after falling to Arkansas, 27-14, in the 2003 contest, which was the Tigers’ last appearance in a bowl game. South Carolina meanwhile will make its inaugural appearance in the game.

“We are hosting an SEC team from the Eastern division for the first time, a team with outstanding history and a legendary first-year coach in Steve Spurrier to play an outstanding Big 12 team in Missouri that continues to play in an impressive fashion,” said Independence Bowl chairman David Nichols.

“We are thrilled to have Missouri of the Big 12 and South Carolina of the SEC participating in the 30th anniversary Independence Bowl,” said Independence Bowl interim executive director Missy Setters. “We look forward to having Missouri back, and we look forward to hosting our first team from the SEC East. This should make for an exciting game on December 30th.”

The Gamecocks also become the first team from the SEC’s Eastern Division to play in the Independence Bowl. Missouri and South Carolina have met just once in each program’s history, with the Tigers claiming a 24-14 victory in the 1979 Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham. Ala.

“We are ecstatic and look forward to playing in the Independence Bowl,” said South Carolina athletics director Eric Hyman. “Our student-athletes are just ecstatic about coming to Shreveport for the Independence Bowl. This is the culmination of a fantastic season,” Hyman said.