2003 Sugar Bowl
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| 2003 Nokia Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| BCS Bowl Game 69th Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Musa Smith (RB, Georgia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Georgia by 7.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Chuck McFerrin (Pac-10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 74,269 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Lynn Swann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 9.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2003 Sugar Bowl, a 2002–03 BCS game, was played on January 1, 2003. This 69th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Florida State Seminoles. Georgia came into the game 12–1 and ranked 3rd in the BCS, whereas Florida State came into the game 9–4 and ranked 14th in the BCS. Sponsored by Nokia, the game was officially known as the Nokia Sugar Bowl.
Georgia Bulldogs
The Sugar Bowl during the BCS era usually selected the SEC champion, meaning that the winner of the SEC in 2002, Georgia received an invitation to the Sugar Bowl. Their opponent would be ACC champion Florida State.
Georgia defeated Arkansas in the 2002 SEC Championship Game to earn a BCS berth as their conference's champion. Georgia entered the bowl with a 12–1 record (7–1 in conference).
Florida State Seminoles
Florida State won the ACC title outright by virtue of their 7–1 conference record. At the time, the ACC champion would go to the Orange Bowl, however the Orange Bowl chose Iowa and USC instead, leaving the Seminoles to play in the Sugar Bowl. Florida State entered the bowl with an 9–4 record (7–1 in conference).