After missing out on a bowl game last season for the first time since 1990, the Gators football team is going bowling once again.
Florida (6-5) will play in the Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina (8-4) on Jan. 3 in Birmingham, Alabama. Kickoff is set for noon Eastern Time (11 a.m. Central Time).
Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, in his fifth year with the Gators and second as defensive coordinator, will serve as the interim head coach for the game.
"We’re very excited to be heading to the Birmingham Bowl," Durkin said in a release. "Our guys are ready to get back on the field to begin preparation to face a very good ECU team."
This will be just the second meeting between Florida and East Carolina, with the only other matchup coming on Oct. 22, 1983, when the Gators defeated the Pirates 24-17.
In addition to the bowl game, Florida will also host East Carolina on Sept. 12 in the second game of the 2015 season.
The last time Florida played an opponent in a bowl game as well as in the ensuing season was Florida State, when the Gators defeated the Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2, 1997, and then defeated them 32-29 on Nov. 22, 1997.
Florida players celebrate following the Gators' 34-10 win against Vanderbilt on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.
