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Bowl games are about more than winning on the field. The days leading up to the games are supposed to be fun and rewarding for the players.
That includes eating. Here are some of the best dining traditions and contests of the bowl season:
Outback Bowl, Outback Steakhouse team welcome dinner: Each season, the two teams that compete in the Outback Bowl are treated to a feast from Outback Steakhouse. This season’s Outback Bowl opponents, Tennessee and Northwestern, combined to eat more than 5,000 pounds of food, including 750 pounds of sirloin steak, 750 pounds of chicken, and 900 pounds of ribs.
Music City Bowl, hot chicken eating contest: Every year, the two teams competing in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee, also compete in the hot chicken eating contest. Each team chooses five players to eat five plates of Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. In a 3-minute competition, the players eat as much hot chicken as they can. If the teams tie, the contest changes to a one-on-one, minute-long competition. At this year’s Music City Bowl, Louisville defeated Texas A&M in the hot chicken eating contest after Khalil Hunter ate three tenders in one minute in the second one-on-one eat off.
Eating contests can get dangerous in Nashville. In 2006, Clemson DT Elsmore Gabriel had to be given the Heimlich Maneuver while choking on rib bone.
Rose Bowl, Beef Bowl: The Beef Bowl began in 1956 at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills, California. In the Beef Bowl’s early years, a prime rib eating competition was encouraged. The first nine Beef Bowl winners went on to win the Rose Bowl game. Now it’s more of an informal eating competition. Because nutrition is emphasized as a significant component in athletic performance, Lawry’s now only serves each player a 16-ounce cut followed by a 12-ounce second helping.
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, wing eating competition: Last season, Buffalo Wild Wings treated both teams to lunch. Minnesota ate 690 more wings than Missouri. But the Tigers won the game.
Chase Erickson is a contributing writer for SDS. He covers Tennessee. Follow him on Twitter @ChaseDownField.
