The 2023 Citrus Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2023, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The 77th annual Citrus Bowl, the game featured the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Purdue Boilermakers of the Big Ten Conference. The game began at 1:08 p.m. EST and was aired on ABC. It was one of the 2022âÂÂ23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. LSU won 63âÂÂ7. The 56-point margin tied the 2008 GMAC Bowl and 2018 Armed Forces Bowl for the largest bowl game margin at the time; that record was surpassed seven days later when Georgia mauled TCU 65âÂÂ7 in the CFP national championship game.
On November 15, 2022, Kellogg's, the parent company of the Cheez-It brand which already sponsored the Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium, announced it had also purchased sponsorship rights to the Citrus Bowl, making it officially the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
On December 4, 2022, it was announced that the game would feature LSU of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Purdue of the Big Ten. This was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
LSU played to a 9âÂÂ3 regular-season record, 6âÂÂ2 in conference play. They faced three ranked teams, defeating Ole Miss and Alabama while losing to Tennessee. The Tigers qualified for the SEC Championship Game, which they lost to top-ranked Georgia. LSU entered the bowl 17th in the College Football Playoff (CFP) ranking, with an overall 9âÂÂ4 record.
Purdue compiled an 8âÂÂ4 regular season record, 6âÂÂ3 in conference play. They faced two ranked opponents, defeating both Minnesota and Illinois. The Boilermakers qualified for the Big Ten Championship Game, which they lost to second-ranked Michigan. Purdue entered the bowl unranked and with an 8âÂÂ5 overall record.
LSU set new Citrus Bowl records for most points scored (63), largest margin of victory (56), and total offensive yards (594).