BATON ROUGE - In the end, LSU's controversial, seven-overtime, 74-72 loss at Texas A&M last week did not impact what was viewed as its likely bowl destination - the Fiesta Bowl - before that game.
The No. 11 Tigers (9-3) will play No. 8 Central Florida (12-0) at noon on Jan. 1 in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, at noon central time on ESPN.
LSU will play in its first Fiesta Bowl, which began in 1971. The Tigers will be in their farthest west bowl since the 1977 season when it lost to Stanford, 24-14, in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.
LSU will be after its first 10-win campaign since the 2013 season when it beat Iowa, 21-14, in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 1, 2014, to finish 10-3. The UCF Knights have won their last 25 straight games for the longest current winning streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
LSU and UCF have never played in football.
The Tigers were considered a contender for the Sugar Bowl, but those chances were slim unless two Southeastern Conference teams reached the College Football Playoff. That did not happen as Georgia (11-2) fell from No. 4 to No. 5 in the CFP poll on Sunday after losing to No. 1 Alabama, 35-28, Saturday night. Georgia will play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 against No. 15 Texas (9-4).
Alabama (13-0) will play No. 4 Oklahoma (12-1) in one Dec. 29 national semifinal in the Orange Bowl, while No. 2 Clemson (13-0) will play No. 3 Notre Dame (12-0) in the other semifinal in the Cotton Bowl. The national championship game will be on Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, California.
The other bowl LSU was most likely to go to other than the Fiesta Bowl was the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, which will have No. 10 Florida (9-3) and No. 7 Michigan (7-2) on Dec. 29.
