CLEMSON — This time last week people were wondering if South Carolina could earn itself a New Year’s Day Bowl game with a win over the Clemson Tigers.

Thanks to a 31-14 loss to the Tigers last Saturday, the Gamecocks are still wondering, but the Tigers now know where they are headed.

The Daily Journal / The Daily Messenger has learned Clemson was extended an invitation to play on New Year’s Day against Nebraska in the 2009 Konica Minolta Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Daily Journal / The Daily Messenger learned that a Gator Bowl representative was at Clemson Tuesday and supposedly met with Clemson officials. The Gator Bowl Association is expected to officially announce their selections today.

Calls put into Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett were unsuccessful. The Florida Times-Union reported that Catlett and selection committee chairperson Kelly Madden left for Greenville on Tuesday night.

“You can make the logical assumption that means we’re going to invite Clemson,” a source told the Times-Union.

The invitation to the Cornhuskers will be delayed until Sunday because The Big 12 will not release non-BCS teams until after the Big 12 Championship game this Saturday between Oklahoma and Missouri. The delay, however, will not affect the selection committee’s choice to bring Nebraska and its very supportive fan base to Jacksonville.

“We’re going to get a very good game, and eventually I think we’ll get the game we wanted,” Catlett told the Times-Union. “We might not be able to announce both teams before Sunday, but it’s going to be an absolutely wonderful game.”

Like Clemson (7-5), the Cornhuskers have come on strong at the end of the season, including four wins in their last five outings to close the regular season with an 8-4 record. The Tigers have won four of their last five games as well, including a three-game winning streak to close the year.

The win over South Carolina not only assured the Tigers of their 31st bowl appearance, but it also removed the interim tag from the front of Dabo Swinney’s title and made him the school’s permanent head coach. Swinney took over the program after former coach Tommy Bowden resigned at midseason and with Clemson at 3-3 overall.

Thanks to the end of the season run, Swinney being named head coach and the fact Clemson fans are known to travel better than any other fan base in the ACC, the Gator Bowl felt like Clemson would be a more attractive team to the Jacksonville area than Florida State, who has played at the Gator Bowl three times in the last 15 months.

Clemson also holds the attendance records for the old Gator Bowl stadium (1989) and the new one (2001). FSU and Colorado drew just 40,000 fans to their game just a couple of months ago.

This will be Clemson’s ninth trip to the Gator Bowl, the most by any team that has participated in the bowl game. The Tigers have a 4-4 record in the Gator Bowl and have lost their last two in the Jacksonville bowl game.

Clemson has not played in the Gator Bowl since a 41-20 loss to Virginia Tech in the 2001 game.

The Jan. 1 meeting will also mark the first time Clemson and Nebraska have met on the football field since the Tigers’ 22-15 win in the 1982 Orange Bowl that clinched the Tigers’ only national championship.

This will be Nebraska’s first ever appearance in the Gator Bowl.

Clemson’s Gator Bowl history

Year W-L Score

1949 W *Clemson 24, Missouri 23

1952 L *Miami 14, Clemson 0

1977 L Pittsburgh 34, Clemson 3

1978 W Clemson 17, Ohio State 15

1986 W Clemson 27, Stanford 21

1989 W Clemson 27, West Virginia 7

1996 L *Syracuse 45, Clemson 0

2001 L *Virginia Tech 41, Clemson 20

Note: * indicates game was played on Jan. 1