The 2019 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2019, with kickoff at 8:10 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 86th edition of the Orange Bowl, and one of the 2019âÂÂ20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Capital One Financial Corporation, the game was officially known as the Capital One Orange Bowl.
The game matched the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Virginia Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). This was the second meeting of these programs, with the Gators having won the first meeting, 55âÂÂ10, in 1959.
Florida entered the Orange Bowl with an overall 10âÂÂ2 record (6âÂÂ2 in conference). They finished their regular season second in the East Division of the SEC, behind Georgia. Entering the game, the Gators were 1âÂÂ2 against ranked FBS opponents, defeating Auburn while losing to LSU and Georgia.
Virginia entered the Orange bowl with an overall 9âÂÂ4 record (6âÂÂ2 in conference), having lost the ACC Championship Game to Clemson after finishing atop the ACC's Coastal Division. The Cavaliers were also 1âÂÂ2 against ranked FBS opponents, defeating Virginia Tech while losing to Notre Dame and Clemson. Unranked in the AP Poll at the time they received their bowl invitation, they become the first AP-unranked participant in the Orange Bowl since Florida in the 1967 edition.