The Northwestern University football team made history Tuesday by winning its first bowl game since 1949 at the 68th annual TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, but the New Year's Day game also offered a history lesson when attendance was announced for the game.
The Northwestern University Wildcats defeated Mississippi State University Bulldogs 34-20 Tuesday at EverBank Field in front of a reported 48,612 attendees.
The Northwestern performance wasn't the only historical streak in play on New Year's Day. The 2012 attendance ranks 52nd on the Gator Bowl list. It also is the third consecutive year of declining ticket sales.
The popularity peaked in 2010 when 84,129 people watched former Florida State University head coach Bobby Bowden in his last game, a victory over West Virginia. The following year Mississippi State and the University of Michigan drew 68,325. The University of Florida and Ohio State University played in last year's game in front of 61,312.
Tuesday's attendance was the lowest since 2000 when 43,416 watched the University of Miami play Georgia Tech.
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